PICTORIAL 

^  THE  CRITICAL  JUDO 

AENT  °f  PICTURED— 


presented  to  the 
UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
SAN  DIEGO 

by 


Mr.   and  Mrs.  Frank  H.  Jellinek 


o 


PICTORIAL     COMPOSITION 


Century  Magazine 


LIGHT  AND  SHADE  —  Geo.  Inness 


Pictorial  Composition 


And  the  Critical  Judgment 
of  Pictures 


A  HANDBOOK  FOR  STUDENTS  AND  LOWERS 
OF  ART 


By 
H.  R.  POORE,  A.N.A. 


NEW  YORK:  THE  BAKER  &  TAYLOR  CO. 
33-37  EAST  SEVENTEENTH  ST.,  UNION  So_.  NORTH 


Copyright,   1903, 

By 

THE  BAKER  &  TAYLOR  Co. 
Published,  March,  1903 


It  is  with  sincere  pleasure  that 
I  dedicate  this  book  to  my  first 
teachery  Peter  Moran,  as  an 
acknowledgment  to  the  interest  he 
inspired  in  this  important  subject 


Preface 

THIS  book  has  been  prepared  because,  although 
the  student  has  been  abundantly  supplied  with 
aids  to  decorative  art,  there  is  little,  within  his 
reach,  concerning  pictorial  composition. 

I  have  added  thereto  hints  on  the  critical  judg- 
ment of  pictures  with  the  hope  of  simplifying 
to  the  many  the  means  of  knowing  pictures, 
prompted  by  the  recollection  of  the  topsyturvi- 
ness  of  this  question  as  it  confronted  my  own 
mind  a  score  of  years  ago.  I  was  then  apt  to 
strain  at  a  Corot  hoping  to  discover  in  the  em- 
ployment of  some  unusual  color  or  method  the 
secret  of  its  worth,  and  to  think  of  the  old  mas- 
ters as  a  different  order  of  beings  from  the  rest 
of  mankind. 

Let  me  trust  that,  to  a  degree  at  least,  these 
pages  may  prove  iconoclastic,  shattering  the 
images  created  of  superstitious  reverence  and  al- 
lowing, in  their  stead,  the  artist  to  be  substituted 
as  something  quite  as  worthy  of  this  same 
homage. 

The  author  acknowledges  the  courtesies  of  the 
publishers  of  Scribners,  The  Century  and  Mun- 
sey's  magazines,  D.  Appleton,  Manzi,  Joyant  & 
Co.,  and  of  the  artists  giving  consent  to  the  use  of 


PREFACE 

their  pictures  for  this  book.  Acknowledgment  is 
also  made  to  F.  A.  Beardsley,  H.  K.  Freeman  and 
L.  Lord,  for  sketches  contributed  thereto. 

HENRY  RANKIN  POOKE, 

Orange,  A".  J.t  Feb.  /,  1903. 


Contents 


PART  I 
PICTOKIAL   COMPOSITION 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  INTRODUCTORY 11 

II.  THE  SCIENTIFIC  SENSE  IN  PICTURES    .  14 

III.  BALANCE 25 

Balance  of  the  Steelyard       ...  28 

Postulates 29 

Vertical  and  Horizontal  Balance        .  41 

The  Natural  Axis 44 

Apparent  or  Formal  Balance       .       .  46 

Balance  by  Opposition  of  Line    .       .  49 

Balance  by  Opposition  of  Spots  .       .  52 

Transition  of  Line 55 

Balance  by  Gradation      ....  58 

Balance  of  Principality  or  Isolation  .  61 

Balance  of  Curvature      ....  62 

IV.  EVOLVING  THE  PICTURE       ....  63 

V.  ENTRANCE  AND  EXIT     .....  74 

Getting  into  the  Picture  ....  74 

Getting  out  of  the  Picture    ...  80 


Illustrations 


Light  and  Shade. — Inness  .      .    Frontispiece 

Fundamental  Forms  of  Construction  ...  17 

Lion  in  the  Desert. — Gerome      .       .      .      .  31 

Salute  to  the  Wounded. — Detaille      .      .      .  31 

The  Connoisseurs. — Fortuny 32 

Pines  in  Winter ,32 

Portrait  of  Sarah  Bernhardt. — Clarin      .      .  37 

Lady  with  Muff  .       .       ...       .       ....  38 

Indian  and  Horse 53 

The  Cabaret. — L'hermitte 53 

Along  the  Shore. — G.  Butler        ....  54 

Pathless. — A.  H.  Hinton       .      .      .      .      .  54 

Her  Last  Moorings 59 

On  the  Thames.— C.  A.  Plait      .      .      .      .  59 

Photography  Nearing  the  Pictorial     .       .      ...  60 

View  Taken  with  a  Wide  Angle  Lens      .      .  69 

Three  Pictures  Found  with  the  View-Metre    .  70 

Don'ts 83 

The  Path  of  the  Surf     .....   .   .  85 

The  Shepherdess 85 

Circular  Observation — The  Principle        ,       .  86 

The  Slaying  of  the  Unpropitious  Messenger  .  86 

Huntsman  and  Hounds 91 

Portrait  of  Van  der  Geest. — Rubens  .  91 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


FAQS 


Marriage  of  Ariadne  and  Bacchus. — Tintoretto  92 

Endymion. — Watts 92 

Fight  Over  the  Body  of  Patroclus. — Weirtz    .  99 

1807. — Meissonier 99 

Ville   d'Avary.— Corot 99 

The  Hermit. — Gerard  Dow    .       .       .       .      .  100 

The  Forge  of  Vulcan. — Boucher  ....  100 

The  Herder. — Jacque 108 

Alone. — J.  Israels Ill 

The  Dance. — Carpeaux Ill 

The  Crucifixion. — A'ime  Morot     ....  112 
Lady  Archibald  Campbell. — Whistler  .      .       .112 

Alice.— W.  M.  Chase 112 

Out  of  the  Book  of  Truth. — Claude  Lorraine  .  119 
The  Beautiful  Gate.— Raphael     .       .       .       .119 

Sketches  from  Landscapes. — Henry  Ranger    .  120 

Hogarth's  Line  of  Beauty 124 

Mother  and  Child. — Orchardson  .       .       .      .127 
Stream  in  Winter.— W.  E.  Schofield  .      .      .127 

Eepose  of  the  Eeapers. — L'hermitte     .      .       .  128 

Departure  for  the  Chase. — Cuyp  ....  128 

The  Lovers. — Gussow 147 

The  Poulterers. — Wallander 147 

The  Night  Watch.— Rembrandt  ....  148 

Eeturn  of  the  Eoyal  Hunting  Party. — Isabey    .  148 

The  View-Metre 156 

Note  Book  Sketches  from  Eubens,  Velasquez, 
Claude  Lorraine  and  Murillo. — F.  A.  Beards- 
ley  161 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


PA(!  K 


A  Keversible  Effect  of  Light  and  Shade  .  .  162 
Fundamental  Forms  of  Chiaroscuro  .  .  .  169 
Fundamental  Forms  of  Chiaroscuro  .  .  .  170 

The  Hillside 175 

Eiver   Fog 175 

The  Chant 175 

Death   of   Caesar. — Gerome 176 

The  Travel  of  the  Soul— Howard  Pyle  .  .  176 
The  North  Eiver.— Prendergast  .  .  .  .203 

An  Intrusion. — Bull 203 

Landscape  Arrangement. — Guerin  .  .  .203 
The  Madonna  of  the  Veil. — Raphael  .  .  .  204 
The  Last  Judgment. — Michael  Angela  .  .  204 
Birth  of  Virgin  Mary. — Durer  .  .  .  .204 
The  Annunciation. — Botticelli  ....  204 

In  Central  Park 204 

The  Inn. — Teniers  204 


Pictorial  Composition 

PART    I 

"  The  painter  is  a  compound  of  a  poet  and  a  man  of  science." 
— Hamerton. 

"  It  is  working  within  limits  that  the  artist  reveals  himself." 
— Goethe. 


CHAPTER  I 

INTRODUCTORY 

THIS  volume  is  addressed  to  three  types  of  art 
workers ;  the  student  of  painting,  the  amateur  pho- 
tographer, and  the  professional  artist.  To  the 
latter  it  speaks  more  in  the  temper  of  the  studio 
discussion  than  in  the  spirit  didactic.  But,  em- 
boldened by  the  friendliness  the  profession  al- 
ways exhibits  toward  any  serious  word  in  art, 
the  writer  is  moved  to  believe  that  the  matters 
herein  discussed  may  be  found  worthy  of  the 
artist's  attention — perhaps  of  his  question.  For 
that  reason  the  tone  here  and  there  is  argumen- 
tative. 

The  question  of  balance  has  never  been  reduced 
to  a  theory  or  stated  as  a  set  of  principles  which 
could  be  sustained  by  anything  more  than  ex- 
ample, which,  as  a  working  basis  must  require 
reconstruction  with  every  change  of  subject. 
Other  forms  of  construction  have  been  sifted 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

down  in  a  search  for  the  governing  principle, — 
a  substitution  for  the  "  rule  and  example." 

To  the  student  and  the  amateur,  therefore,  it 
must  be  said  this  is  not  a  "  how-to-do  "  book. 
The  number  of  these  is  legion,  especially  in 
painting,  known  to  all  students,  among  which 
the  catalogue  of  the  yellow  covered  shilling  lit- 
erature is  conspicuous.  Such  volumes  are  pub- 
lished because  of  the  great  demand  and  are  de- 
manded because  the  student,  in  his  haste,  will 
not  stop  for  principles,  and  think  it  out.  He  will 
have  a  rule  for  each  case ;  and  when  his  direct 
question  has  been  answered  with  a  principle,  he 
still  inquires,  "  "Well,  what  shall  I  do  here  ?  " 

Why  preach  the  golden  rule  of  harmony  as  an 
abstraction,  when  inharmony  is  the  concrete  sin 
to  be  destroyed.  We  reach  the  former  by  elimi- 
nation. Whatever  commandments  this  book  con- 
tains, therefore,  are  the  shalt  nots. 

As  the  problems  to  the  maker  of  pictures  by 
photography  are  the  same  as  those  of  the  painter 
and  the  especial  ambition  of  the  former's  art  is 
to  be  painter-like,  separations  have  been  thought 
unnecessary  in  the  address  of  the  text.  It  is  the 
best  wish  of  the  author  that  photography,  fol- 
lowing painting  in  her  essential  principles  as  she 
does,  may  prove  herself  a  well  met  companion 
along  art's  highway, — seekers  together,  at  arm's 
length,  and  in  defined  limits,  of  the  same  goal. 

The  mention  of  artists'  names  has  been  limited, 
and  a  liberal  allusion  to  many  works  avoided 
because  to  multiply  them  is  both  confusing  and 
unnecessary. 

[12] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

To  the  art  lover  this  book  may  be  found  of 
interest  as  containing  the  reasons  in  picture  com- 
position, and  through  them  an  aid  to  critical 
judgment.  We  adapt  our  education  from  quaint 
and  curious  sources.  It  is  the  apt  correlation  of 
the  arts  which  accounts  for  the  acknowledgment 
by  an  English  story  writer  that  she  got  her  style 
from  Buskins'  "  Principles  of  Drawing  " ;  and  of 
a  landscape  painter  that  to  sculpture  he  owed 
his  discernment  of  the  forest  secrets,  by  daily 
observing  the  long  lines  of  statues  in  the  corridor 
of  the  Royal  Academy ;  or  by  the  composer  of 
pictures  to  the  composer  of  music ;  or  by  the 
preacher  that  suggestions  to  discourse  had  come 
to  him  through  the  pictorial  processes  of  the 
painter. 


[13] 


CHAPTER  II 

THE   SCIENTIFIC   SENSE   IN   PICTURES 

THE  poet-philosopher  Emerson  declared  that 
he  studied  geology  that  he  might  better  write 
poetry. 

For  a  moment  the  two  elements  of  the  propo- 
sition stand  aghast  and  defiant ;  but  only  for  a 
moment.  The  poet,  who  from  the  top  looks 
down  upon  the  whole  horizon  of  things  can 
never  use  the  tone  of  authority  if  his  gaze  be 
a  surface  one.  He  must  know  things  in  their 
depth  in  order  that  the  glance  may  be  suffi- 
cient. 

The  poet  leaves  his  geology  and  botany,  his 
grammar  and  rhetoric  on  the  shelf  when  he 
makes  his  word  picture.  After  he  has  expressed 
his  thought  however  he  may  have  occasion  to 
call  on  the  books  of  science,  the  grammar  and 
rhetoric  and  these  may  very  seriously  interfere 
with  the  spontaneous  product.  So  do  the  sen- 
tries posted  on  the  boundary  of  the  painter's  art 
protect  it  from  the  liberties  taken  in  the  name  of 
originality. 

"  The  progressive  element  in  our  art,"  says  the 

author  of  "  The  Law  of  Progress  in  Art,"  "  is  the 

scientific   element.     .     .     .     Artists  will  not  be 

any  more  famous  for  being  scientific,  but  they  are 

[14] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

compelled  to  become  scientific  because  they  have 
embraced  a  profession  which  includes  science. 
What  I  desire  to  enforce  is  the  great  truth  that 
within  the  art  of  painting  there  exists,  flourishes 
and  advances  a  noble  and  glorious  science  which 
is  essential  and  progressive." 

"  Any  one  who  can  learn  to  write  can  learn  to 
draw ; "  and  every  one  who  can  learn  to  draw 
should  learn  to  compose  pictures.  That  they  do 
not  is  in  evidence  in  the  work  of  the  many  ac- 
complished draughtsmen  who  have  delineated 
their  ideas  on  canvas  and  paper  from  the  time  of 
the  earliest  masters  to  the  present  day,  wherein 
the  ability  to  produce  the  details  of  form  is 
manifest  in  all  parts  of  the  work,  but  in  the  com- 
bination of  those  parts  the  first  intention  of  their 
presence  has  lost  force. 

Composition  is  the  science  of  combination,  and 
the  art  of  the  world  has  progressed  as  do  the 
processes  of  the  kindergarten.  Artists  first  re- 
ceived form ;  then  color  ;  the  materials,  then  the 
synthesis  of  the  two.  Notable  examples  of  the 
world's  great  compositions  may  be  pointed  to  in 
the  work  of  the  Kenaissance  painters,  and  such 
examples  will  be  cited ;  but  the  major  portion  of 
the  art  by  which  these  exceptions  were  sur- 
rounded offer  the  same  proportion  of  good  to 
bad  as  the  inverse  ratio  would  to-day. 

Without  turning  to  serious  argument  at  this 
point,  a  superficial  one,  which  will  appeal  to 
most  art  tourists,  whether  professional  or  lay,  is 
found  in  the  relief  experienced  in  passing  from 
the  galleries  of  the  old  to  those  of  the  new  art 
[15] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

in  Europe,  in  that  one  finds  repose  and  expe- 
riences a  relief  of  mental  tension,  discovering  with 
the  latter  the  balance  of  line,  of  mass  and  of 
color,  and  that  general  simplicity  so  necessary  to 
harmony,  which  suggests  that  the  weakness  of 
the  older  art  lay  in  the  last  of  the  three  essentials 
of  painting;  form,  color  and  composition.  The 
low-toned  harmonies  of  time-mellowed  color  we 
would  be  loath  to  exchange  for  aught  else,  ex- 
cept for  that  element  of  disturbance  so  vague  and 
so  difficult  of  definition,  namely,  lack  of  composi- 
tion. 

In  the  single  case  of  portrait  composition  of 
two  figures  (more  difficult  than  of  one,  three  or 
more)  it  is  worthy  of  note  how  far  beyond  the 
older  are  the  later  masters;  or  in  the  case  of 
the  grouping  of  landscape  elements,  or  in  the 
arrangement  of  figures  or  animals  in  landscape, 
how  a  finer  sense  in  such  arrangement  has  come 
to  art.  Masterful  composition  of  many  figures 
however  has  never  been  surpassed  in  certain  ex- 
amples of  Michael  Angelo,  Kubens,  Corregio  and 
the  great  Venetians,  yet  while  we  laud  the 
successes  of  these  men  we  should  not  forget  their 
lapses  nor  the  errors  in  composition  of  their  con- 
temporaries. 

Those  readers  who  have  been  brought  up  in 
the  creed  and  catechism  of  the  old  masters,  and 
swallowed  them  whole,  with  no  questions,  I  beg 
will  lay  aside  traditional  prejudice,  and  regard- 
ing every  work  with  reference  to  neither  name 
nor  date,  challenge  it  only  with  the  countersign 
"good  composition."  This  will  require  an  un- 
[16] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

sentimental  view,  which  need  not  and  should  not 
be  an  unsympathetic  one,  but  which  would  bare 
the  subject  of  that  which  overzealous  devotion 
has  bestowed  upon  it,  a  compound  accumulation 
of  centuries. 

The  most  serious  work  yet  written  on  com- 
position, Burnet's  "  Light  and  Shade,"  was  penned 
at  a  time  when  the  influence  of  old  masters  held 
undisputed  sway.  The  thought  of  that  day  in 
syllogism  would  run  as  follows :  The  work  of  the 
Old  Masters  in  its  composition  is  beyond  re- 
proach. Botticelli,  Kaphael,  Paul  Potter,  Wou- 
vermans,  Cuyp,  Domenichino,  Diirer,  Teniers  et 
al,  are  Old  Masters.  Therefore,  we  accept  their 
works  as  models  of  good  composition,  to  be  fol- 
lowed for  all  ages.  And  under  such  a  creed  a 
work  valuable  from  many  points  of  view  has 
been  crippled  by  its  free  use  of  models,  which  in 
some  cases  compromise  the  arguments  of  the 
author,  and  in  others,  if  used  by  artists  of  the 
present  day,  would  only  serve  to  administer  a  re- 
buke to  their  simple  trust,  in  that  practical  man- 
ner known  to  juries,  hanging  committees  and 
publishers. 

The  slight  advance  made  in  the  field  of  paint- 
ing during  the  past  three  centuries  has  come 
through  this  channel,  and  strange  would  it  seem 
if  the  striving  of  this  long  period  should  show  no 
improvement  in  any  direction. 

Composition   is   the  mortar  of  the  wall,   as 

drawing   and    color  are   its   rocks   of   defence. 

Without  it  the  stones  are  of  little  value,  and  are 

but  separate  integrals  having  no  unity.     If  the 

[18] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

reader  agrees  with  this,  then  he  agrees  to  throw- 
out  of  the  category  of  the  picture  all  pictorial 
representations  which  show  no  composition. 
This  classification  eliminates  most  of  the  illus- 
trations of  scientific  work ;  such  illustrations  as 
aim  only  at  facts  of  incident,  space  or  topography, 
photographic  reproductions  of  groups  wherein 
each  individual  is  shown  to  be  quite  as  important 
as  every  other,  and  which,  therefore,  become  a 
collection  of  separate  pictures,  and  such  illus- 
trations as  are  frequently  met  with  in  the  daily 
papers,  where  opportunities  for  picture-making 
have  been  diverted  to  show  where  the  victim 
fell,  and  where  the  murderer  escaped,  or  where 
the  man  drowned — usually  designated  by  a  star. 
These  are  not  pictures,  but  perspective  maps  to 
locate  events.  Besides  these,  in  the  field  of 
painting,  are  to  be  found  now  and  then  products 
of  an  artist's  skill  which,  though  interesting  in 
technique  and  color,  give  little  pleasure  to  a 
well-balanced  mind,  destitute  as  they  are  of 
the  simple  principles  which  govern  the  uni- 
verse of  matter.  Take  from  nature  the  princi- 
ples of  balance,  and  you  deprive  it  of  har- 
mony ;  take  from  it  harmony  and  you  have 
chaos. 

A  picture  may  have  as  its  component  parts  a 
man,  a  horse,  a  tree,  a  fence,  a  road  and  a  moun- 
tain ;  but  these  thrown  together  upon  canvas  do 
not  make  a  picture ;  and  not,  indeed,  until  they 
have  been  arranged  or  composed. 

The  argument,  therefore,  is  that  without  com- 
position, there  can  be  no  picture ;  that  the  com- 
[19] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

position  of  pictorial  units  into  a  whole  is  the 
picture. 

Simple  as  its  principles  are,  it  is  amazing,  one 
might  almost  say  amusing,  to  note  how  easily 
they  eluded  many  artists  of  the  earlier  periods, 
whose  work  technically  is  valuable,  and  how  the 
new  school  of  Impressionism  or  Naturalism  has 
sought  to  snub  or  tried  to  snub  them.  That  all  Im- 
pressionists do  not  agree  with  the  following  is  evi- 
denced by  the  good  that  comes  to  us  with  their 
mark, — "  Opposed  to  the  miserable  law  of  compo- 
sition, symmetry,  balance,  arrangement  of  parts, 
filling  of  space,  as  though  Nature  herself  does  not 
do  that  ten  thousand  times  better  in  her  own 
pretty  way."  The  assertion  that  composition  is 
a  part  of  Nature's  law,  that  it  is  done  by  her 
and  well  done  we  are  glad  to  hear  in  the  same 
breath  of  invective  that  seeks  to  annihilate  it. 
When,  under  this  curse  we  take  from  our  picture 
one  by  one  the  elements  on  which  it  is  builded, 
the  result  we  would  be  able  to  present  without 
offence  to  the  author  of  "  Naturalistic  Painting," 
Mr.  Francis  Bate. 

"  The  artist,"  says  Mr.  "Whistler, "  is  born  to 
pick,  and  choose,  and  group  with  science  these 
elements,  that  the  result  may  be  beautiful — as 
the  musician  gathers  his  notes  and  forms  his 
chords  until  he  brings  forth  from  chaos  glorious 
harmony.  To  say  to  the  painter  that  Nature  is 
to  be  taken  as  she  is,  is  to  say  to  the  player  that 
he  may  sit  on  the  piano.  That  Nature  is  always 
right  is  an  assertion  artistically,  as  untrue  as  it 
is  one  whose  truth  is  universally  taken  for 

[20] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

granted.  Nature  is  very  rarely  right  to  such  an 
extent,  even,  that  it  might  almost  be  said  that 
Nature  is  usually  wrong  ;  that  is  to  say,  the  con- 
dition of  things  that  shall  bring  about  the  per- 
fection of  harmony  worthy  a  picture  is  rare,  and 
not  common  at  all." 

Between  the  life  class,  with  its  model  standing 
in  academic  pose  and  the  pictured  scene  in  which 
the  model  becomes  a  factor  in  the  expression  of 
an  idea,  there  is  a  great  gulf  fixed.  The  precept 
of  the  ateliers  is  paint  the  figure ;  if  you  can  do 
that,  you  can  paint  anything. 

Influenced  by  this  half  truth  many  a  student, 
with  years  of  patient  life  school  training  behind 
him,  has  sought  to  enter  the  picture-making 
stage  with  a  single  step.  He  then  discovers  that 
what  he  had  learned  to  do  cleverly  by  means  of 
routine  practice,  was  in  reality  the  easiest  thing 
to  do  in  the  manufacture  of  a  picture,  and  that 
sterner  difficulties  awaited  him  in  his  settlement 
of  the  figure  into  its  surroundings — background 
and  foreground.1 

Many  portrait  painters  assert  that  it  is  the  set- 
ting of  the  subject  which  gives  them  the  most 
trouble.  The  portraitist  deals  with  but  a 
single  figure,  yet  this,  in  combination  with  its 
scanty  support,  provokes  this  well-known  com- 
ment. 

The  lay  community  cannot  understand  this. 


1  "  I  gave  up  art,"  said  a  student  who  had  spent  seven  years 
in  foreign  ateliers,  "not  because  I  could  not  paint,  but  be- 
cause I  was  never  taught  the  business.  I  could  not  make 
pictures." 

[21] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

It  seems  illogical.  It  can  only  be  comprehended 
by  him  who  paints. 

The  figure  is  tangible  and  represents  the 
known.  The  background  is  a  space  opened  into 
the  unknown,  a  place  for  the  expressions  of 
fancy.  It  is  the  tone  quality  accompanying  the 
song,  the  subject's  reliance  for  balance  and  con- 
trast. An  inquiry  into  the  statement  that  the 
accessories  of  the  subject  demand  a  higher  degree 
of  artistic  skill  than  the  painting  of  the  subject 
itself,  and  that  on  these  accessories  depend  the 
carrying  power  of  the  subject,  leads  directly 
to  the  principles  of  composition. 

u  It  must  of  necessity  be,"  says  Sir  Joshua 
Keynolds,  "  that  even  works  of  genius,  like  every 
other  effect,  as  they  must  have  their  cause,  must 
also  have  their  rules ;  it  cannot  be  by  chance 
that  excellencies  are  produced  with  any  con- 
stancy or  any  certainty,  for  this  is  not  the  nature 
of  chance ;  but  the  rules  by  which  men  of  extra- 
ordinary parts,  and  such  as  are  called  men  of 
genius,  work,  are  either  such  as  they  discover  by 
their  o^wn  peculiar  observations,  or  of  such  a  nice 
texture  as  not  easily  to  admit  being  expressed  in 
words,  especially  as  artists  are  not  very  fre- 
quently skillful  in  that  mode  of  communicating 
ideas.  Unsubstantial,  however,  as  these  rules 
may  seem,  and  difficult  as  it  may  be  to  convey 
them  in  writing,  they  are  still  seen  and  felt  in 
the  mind  of  the  artist ;  and  he  works  from  them 
with  as  much  certainty  as  if  they  were  embodied 
upon  paper.  It  is  true  these  refined  principles 
cannot  always  be  made  palpable,  as  the  more 

[22] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

gross  rules  of  art;  yet  it  does  not  follow  but 
that  the  mind  may  be  put  in  such  a  train  that  it 
still  perceives  by  a  kind  of  scientific  sense  that 
propriety  which  words,  particularly  words  of 
impractical  writers,  such  as  we  are,  can  but  very 
feebly  suggest." 

Science  has  to  do  wholly  with  truth,  Art  with 
both  truth  and  beauty  ;  but  in  arranging  a  pre- 
cedence she  puts  beauty  first. 

Our  regard  for  the  science  of  composition  is 
acknowledged  when,  after  having  enjoyed  the 
painter's  work  from  the  art  side  alone,  the 
science  of  its  structure  begins  to  appear.  In- 
stead of  the  concealment  of  art  by  art  it  is  the 
suppression  of  the  science  end  of  art  that  takes 
our  cunning. 

"  The  picture  which  looks  most  like  nature  to 
the  uninitiated,"  says  a  clever  writer,  "will 
probably  show  the  most  attention  to  the  rules  of 
the  artist." 

Ten  years  ago  the  writer  took  part  in  an  after- 
dinner  discussion  at  the  American  Art  Associa- 
tion of  Paris  over  the  expression  "  the  rules  of 
composition."  A  number  of  artists  joined  in  the 
debate,  all  giving  their  opinion  without  premedi- 
tation. Some  maintained  that  the  principles  of 
composition  were  nothing  more  than  aesthetic 
taste  and  judgment,  applied  by  a  painter  of  ex- 
perience. 

Others,   with    less   beggary  of  the  question, 

affirmed  that  the  principles  were  negative  rather 

than  positive.     They  warned  the  artist  rather 

than  instructed  him ;  and,  if  rules  were  to  fol- 

[23] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

low  principles,  they  were  rules  concerning  what 
should  not  be  done.  The  epitome  of  the  debate 
was  that  composition  was  like  salt,  in  the  defini- 
tion of  the  small  boy,  who  declared  that  salt  is 
what  makes  things  taste  bad  when  you  don't  put 
any  on. 


[24] 


CHAPTER  III 

BALANCE 

OF  all  pictorial  principles  none  compares  in 
importance  with  Unity  or  Balance. 

"  Why  all  this  intense  striving,  this  struggle  to 
a  finish,"  said  George  Inness,  as,  at  the  end  of  a 
long  day,  he  flung  himself  exhausted  upon  his 
lounge,  "  but  an  effort  to  obtain  unity,  unity." 

The  observer  of  an  artist  at  work  will  notice 
that  he  usually  stands  at  his  easel  and  views  his 
picture  at  varied  distances,  that  he  looks  at  it 
over  his  shoulder,  that  he  reverses  it  in  a  mirror, 
that  he  turns  it  upside  down  at  times,  that  he 
develops  it  with  dots  or  spots  of  color  here  and 
there,  points  of  accent  carefully  placed  and  oft- 
times  changed. 

"What  is  the  meaning  of  this  thoughtful  weigh- 
ing of  parts  in  the  slowly-growing  mosaic,  but 
that  he  labors  under  the  restraint  of  a  law  which 
he  feels  compelled  to  obey  and  the  breaking  of 
which  would  cause  anguish  to  his  aesthetic  sense. 
The  law  under  which  his  striving  proceeds  is  the 
fundamental  one  of  balance,  and  the  critical 
artist  obeys  it  whether  he  be  the  maker  of 
vignettes  for  a  newspaper,  or  the  painter  who 
declares  for  color  only,  or  the  man  who  tries 
hard  to  produce  naivete  by  discarding  composi- 
tion. The  test  to  which  the  sensitive  eye  sub- 
[25] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

jects  every  picture  from  whatsoever  creed  or 
camp  it  comes  is  balance  or  equipoise,  judgment 
being  rendered  without  thought  of  the  law. 
After  the  picture  has  been  left  as  finished,  why 
does  an  artist  often  feel  impelled  to  create  an 
accent  on  this  side  or  weaken  an  obtrusive  one 
on  the  other  side  of  his  canvas  if  not  working 
under  a  law  of  balance  ? 

Let  any  picture  be  taken  which  has  lived  long 
enough  before  the  public  to  be  considered  good 
by  every  one ;  or  take  a  dozen  or  more  such  and 
add  others  by  artists  who  declare  against  com- 
position and  yet  have  produced  good  pictures; 
subject  all  these  to  the  following  simple  test: 
Find  the  actual  centre  of  the  picture  and  pass  a 
vertical  and  horizontal  line  through  it.  The  ver- 
tical division  is  the  more  important,  as  the  nat- 
ural balance  is  on  the  lateral  sides  of  a  central  sup- 
port. It  will  be  found  that  the  actual  centre  of 
the  canvas  is  also  the  actual  pivot  or  centre  of 
the  picture,  and  around  such  a  point  the  various 
components  group  themselves,  pulling  and  haul- 
ing and  warring  in  their  claim  for  attention,  the 
satisfactory  picture  showing  as  much  weight  by 
attraction  on  one  side  of  the  centre  as  the  other, 
and  the  picture  perfect  in  balance  displaying  this 
equipoise  above  and  below  the  horizontal  line. 

Now,  in  order  that  what  seems  at  first  glance 
an  extraordinary  statement  may  be  understood, 
the  reader  should  realize  that  every  item  of  a 
picture  has  a  certain  pulling  power,  as  though 
each  object  were  a  magnet  of  given  potency. 
Each  has  attraction  for  the  eye,  therefore  each, 
[26] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

while  obtaining  attention  for  itself,  establishes 
proportional  detraction  for  every  other  part. 
On  the  principle  of  the  steelyard,  the  farther 
from  the  centre  and  more  isolated  an  object  is, 
the  greater  its  weight  or  attraction.  Therefore, 
in  the  balance  of  a  picture  it  will  be  found  that  a 
very  important  object  placed  but  a  short  distance 
from  the  centre  may  be  balanced  by  a  very  small 
object  on  the  other  side  of  the  centre  and 
further  removed  from  it.  The  whole  of  the  pic- 
torial interest  may  be  on  one  side  of  a  picture 
and  the  other  side  be  practically  useless  as  far  as 
picturesqueness  or  story-telling  opportunity  is 
concerned,  but  which  finds  its  reason  for  existing 
in  the  balance,  and  that  alone. 

In  the  emptiness  of  the  opposing  half  such  a 
picture,  when  completely  in  balance,  will  have 
some  bit  of  detail  or  accent  which  the  eye  in  its 
circular  symmetrical  inspection  will  catch,  un- 
consciously, and  weave  into  its  calculation  of 
balance ;  or  if  not  an  object  or  accent  or  line  of 
attraction,  then  some  technical  quality,  or  spirit- 
ual quality,  such,  for  example,  as  a  strong  feeling 
of  gloom,  or  depth  for  penetration,  light  or  dark, 
a  place  in  fact,  for  the  eye/  to  dwell  upon  as  an 
important  part  in  connection  with  the  subject 
proper,  and  recognized  as  such. 

But,  the  querist  demands,  if  all  the  subject  is 
on  one  side  of  the  centre  and  the  other  side  de- 
pends for  its  existence  on  a  balancing  space  or 
accent  only,  why  not  cut  it  off  ?  Do  so.  Then 
you  will  have  the  entire  subject  in  one-half  the 
space  to  be  sure,  but  its  harmony  or  balance  will 
[27] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

depend  on  the  equipoise  when  pivoted  in  the 
new  centre. 

BALANCE  OF  THE  STEELYARD. 

Let  the  reader  make  the  test  upon  the  "  Con- 
noisseurs "  and  cut  away  everything  on  the  right 
beyond  a  line  through  the  farther  support  of  the 
mantel.  This  will  place  the  statue  in  the  exact 
centre.  In  this  shape  the  picture  composes  well. 
In  re-adding  this  space  however  the  centre  is 
shifted  leaving  the  statue  and  two  figures  hang- 
ing to  one  side  but  close  to  the  pivot  and  demand- 
ing more  balance  in  this  added  side.  Now  the 
space  alone,  with  very  little  in  it,  has  weight 
enough,  and  just  here  the  over-scientific  enthusi- 
ast might  err ;  but  the  artist  in  this  case  from 
two  other  considerations  has  here  placed  a  figure. 
It  opposes  its  vertical  to  the  horizontal  of  the 
table,  and  catches  and  turns  the  line  of  the 
shadow  on  the  wall  into  the  line  of  the  rug.  An 
extended  search  in  pictorial  art  gives  warrant  for 
a  rule,  upon  this  principle,  namely:  where  the 
subject  is  on  one  side  of  the  centre  it  must  exist 
close  to  the  centre,  or,  in  that  degree  in  which  it 
departs  from  the  centre,  show  positive  anchorage 
to  the  other  side. 

It  is  not  maintained  that  every  good  picture 
can  show  this  complete  balance ;  but  the  claim  is 
made  that  the  striving  on  the  part  of  its  designer 
has  been  in  the  direction  of  this  balance,  and 
that,  had  it  been  secured,  the  picture  would  have 
been  that  much  better.  Let  this  simple  test  be 
applied  bv  elimination  of  overweighted  parts  or 
[28] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

addition  of  items  where  needed,  on  this  principle, 
and  it  will  be  found  that  the  composition  will 
always  improve.  As  a  necessary  caution  it 
should  be  observed  that  the  small  balancing 
weight  of  the  steelyard  should  not  become  a 
point  causing  divided  interest. 

It  is  easy  to  recognize  a  good  composition ;  to 
tell  why  it  is  good  may  be  difficult ;  to  tell  how 
it  could  be  made  better  is  what  the  art  worker 
desires  to  know,  and  may  be  ofttimes  thus  re- 
vealed. 

Let  the  student  when  in  doubt  weigh  out  his 
picture  in  the  balances  and  then  verify  it  on  the 
steelyard. 

POSTULATES. 

The  necessary  postulates  are  as  follows : 

All  pictures  are  a  collection  of  units. 

Every  unit  has  a  given  value. 

The  value  of  a  unit  depends  on  its  attraction ; 
of  its  character,  of  its  size,  of  its  placement. 

A  unit  near  the  edge  has  more  attraction  than 
at  the  centre. 

Every  part  of  the  picture  space  has  some  at- 
traction. 

Space  having  no  detail  may  possess  attraction 
by  gradation  and  by  suggestion. 

A  unit  of  attraction  in  an  otherwise  empty 
space  has  more  weight  through  isolation  than 
the  same  when  placed  with  other  units. 

A  black  unit  on  white  or  a  white  on  black  has 
more  attraction  than  the  same  on  gray. 

The  value  of  a  black  or  white  unit  is  pro- 
[29] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

portioned  to  the  size  of  space  contrasting 
with  it. 

A  unit  in  the  foreground  has  less  weight  than 
one  in  the  distance. 

Two  or  more  associated  units  may  be  reckoned 
as  one  and  their  united  centre  is  the  point  on 
which  they  balance  with  others. 

There  is  balance  of  Line,  of  Mass,  of  Light  and 
Dark,  of  Measure,  which  is  secured  upon  a  scale 
of  attraction  which  each  possesses. 

The  "  Lion  of  the  Desert,"  by  Gerome  shows 
three  isolated  spots  and  one  line  of  attraction. 
The  trend  of  vision  on  leaving  the  lion  is  to  the 
extreme  right  and  thence  back  along  the  pathway 
of  dark,  and  then  light  into  the  picture  to  the 
group  of  trees.  Across  this  is  an  oppositional 
balance  from  the  bushes  of  the  foreground  to  the 
mountains  of  the  extreme  distance.  The  only 
line  in  the  composition,  better  seen  in  the  paint- 
ing than  in  the  reproduction,  counts  much  in  the 
balance  over  the  centre.  The  placement  of  the 
important  item  or  subject,  has  little  to  do  with 
the  balance  scheme  of  a  picture.  This  is  the 
starting  point,  and  balance  is  a  consideration  be- 
yond this. 

In  every  composition  the  eye  should  cross  the 
central  division  at  least  once.  This  initiates 
equipoise,  for  in  the  survey  of  a  picture  the  eye 
naturally  shifts  from  the  centre  of  interest,  which 
may  be  on  one  side,  to  the  other  side  of  the  can- 
vas. If  there  be  something  there  to  receive  it, 
the  balance  it  seeks  is  gratified.  If  it  finds  noth- 
[30] 


,   • 


LION  IN  THE  DESERT — Gilrdme 

Balance  of  Isolated  Measures 


SALUTE  TO  THE  WOUNDED — Detaille 

Balance  of  Equal  Measures 


PINES  IN  WINTER 

Unbalance 


THE  CONNOISSEURS — Fortuity 

Balance  of  the  Steelyards 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

ing,  the  artist  must  create  something,  with  the 
conclusion  that  some  element  of  the  picture  was 
lacking. 

In  the  snow-scene  the  eye  is  attracted  from  the 
pine-trees  to  the  houses  on  the  left  and  rests  there, 
no  attraction  having  been  created  to  move  it  to 
the  other  half  of  the  picture. 

"What  is  known  as  divided  interest  in  a  picture 
is  nothing  more  than  the  doubt  established  by  a 
false  arrangement  of  balance,  too  great  an  at- 
traction being  used  where  less  weight  was 
needed.  The  artist  must  be  the  judge  of  the 
degree  of  satisfaction  he  allows  this  feeling,  but 
no  one  can  ignore  it  and  obtain  unity. 

The  question  of  degree  must  have  a  caution 
placed  before  it ;  for  in  an  attempt  to  create  a 
balance  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  vertical  the 
tendency  is  to  use  too  heavy  a  weight.  The 
whole  of  the  subject  is  sometimes  made  to  take 
its  place  well  on  one  side  and  another  item  would 
seem  redundant.  Two  points  will  be  noticed  in 
all  of  such  cases:  that  the  opposing  half  may 
either  be  cut  off  without  damage,  or  greatly 
elongated,  and  in  both  forms  the  picture  seems 
to  survive.  The  fact  becomes  an  argument  for 
the  theory  of  balance  across  a  medial  upright 
line;  in  the  first  instance  by  shifting  the  line 
itself  into  the  centre  of  the  subject,  and  in  the 
second  by  securing  more  weight  of  space  with 
which  to  balance  the  subject. 

The  portrait  of  Sarah  Bernhardt,  an  excellent 
composition  from  many  points  of  view,  finds  its 
most  apparent  balance  on  either  side  of  the  sinu- 
[33] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

ous  line  of  light  through  the  centre  exhibiting 
the  axis,  which  many  pictures  show  in  varying  de- 
grees. The  opposing  corners  are  well  balanced, 
the  palm  over  against  the  dog,  with  a  trifle  too 
much  importance  left  to  the  dog.  Place  the  finger 
in  observation  over  the  head  and  forelegs  of  the 
dog,  taking  this  much  off  and  the  whole  compo- 
sition gains,  not  only  because  the  diagonal  cor- 
ners then  balance,  but  because  the  heads  of  both 
woman  and  dog  are  too  important  for  the  same 
sides  of  the  picture. 

It  would  be  perfectly  possible  in  the  more  com- 
plete composition  to  have  both  heads  as  they  are, 
but  this  would  demand  more  weight  on  the  other 
side ;  or  a  shifting  of  the  whole  picture  very 
slightly  toward  the  palm  side. 

In  the  painting  this  is  not  felt,  as  the  head  of 
the  dog  is  so  treated  that  it  attracts  but  little, 
though  the  object  be  in  the  close  foreground. 

This  picture  also  balances  on  the  horizontal 
and  vertical  lines. 

Here  we  have  the  dog  and  fan  balancing  the 
body  and  palm.  The  balance  across  the  diagonal 
of  the  figure,  by  the  opposition  of  the  dog  with 
the  palm  is  very  complete.  Joined  with  the 
hanging  lamp  above  this  sinuous  line  effects  a 
letter  S  or  without  the  dog  and  palm  Hogarth's 
line  of  beauty. 

In  the  matter  also  of  the  destruction  of  the 
necessary  foundation  lines  which  support  the 
figure  (the  sofa),  and  cut  the  picture  in  two,  this 
curving  figure,  the  pillow  and  the  palm  leaf  do 
excellent  service. 

[34] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

When  one  fills  a  vase  with  flowers  he  aims  at 
both  unity  and  balance,  and  if,  in  either  color 
combination,  or  in  massing  and  accent,  it  lacks 
this,  the  result  is  disturbing.  Let  the  vase  be- 
come a  bowl  and  let  the  bowl  be  placed  on  its 
edge  and  made  to  resemble  a  frame,  entirely  sur- 
rounding the  bouquet ;  his  effort  remains  the 
same.  To  be  effective  in  a  frame,  balance  and 
unity  are  just  as  necessary.  The  eye  finds  repose 
and  delight  in  the  perfect  equipoise  of  elements^ 
brought  into  combination  and  bound  together  by 
the  girdle  of  the  frame. 

A  picture  should  be  able  to  hang  from  its  exact 
centre.  Imperfect  composition  inflicts  upon  the 
beholder  the  duty  of  accommodating  his  head  to 
the  false  angle  of  the  picture.  Pictures  that 
stand  the  test  of  time  do  not  demand  astigmatic 
glasses.  We  view  them  balanced,  and  they  re- 
peat the  countersign — "  balanced" 

After  settling  upon  this  as  the  great  consider- 
ation in  the  subject  of  composition  and  reducing 
the  principle  to  the  above  law,  I  confess  I  had 
not  the  full  courage  of  my  conviction  for  a  six 
month,  for  now  and  then  a,picture  would  appear 
that  at  first  glance  seemed  like  an  unruly  colt,  to 
refuse  to  be  harnessed  to  the  theory  and  was  in 
danger  of  kicking  it  to  pieces.  After  a  number 
of  such  apparent  exceptions  and  the  ease  with 
which  they  submitted  to  the  test  of  absolute  bal- 
ance from  the  centre,  on  the  scheme  of  the  steel- 
yards, I  am  now  entirely  convinced  that  what 
writers  have  termed  the  "  very  vague  subject  of 
composition,"  "  the  perplexing  question  of  ar- 
[35] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

rangement  of  parts,"  etc.,  yields  to  this  simplest 
law,  and  which,  in  its  directness  and  clearness, 
affords  the  simplest  of  working  rules.  Those 
whose  artistic  freedom  bids  defiance  to  the 
slavery  of  rule,  as  applied  to  an  artistic  prod- 
uct, and  who  try  to  produce  something  that 
shall  break  all  rules,  in  the  hope  of  being  origi- 
nal, spend  the  greater  part  of  the  time  in  but 
covering  the  surface  so  that  the  principle  may 
not  be  too  easily  seen,  and  the  rest  of  the  time  in 
balancing  the  unbalanced. 

As  the  balance  of  the  figure  dominates  all 
other  considerations  in  the  statue  or  painting  of 
the  human  form,  so  does  the  equipoise  of  the  pic- 
ture, or  its  balance  of  parts,  become  the  chief 
consideration  in  its  composition.  The  figure  bal- 
ances its  weight  over  the  point  of  support,  as  the 
flying  Mercury  on  his  toes,  the  picture  upon  a 
fulcrum  on  which  large  and  small  masses  hang 
with  the  same  delicate  adjustment.  In  Fortuny's 
"  Connoisseurs,"  the  two  men  looking  at  a  picture 
close  to  the  left  of  the  centre  form  the  subject. 
The  dark  mass  behind  them  stops  off  further 
penetration  in  this  direction,  but  the  eye  is  drawn 
away  into  the  light  on  the  right  and  seeks  the 
man  carrying  a  portfolio.  At  his  distance,  to- 
gether with  the  lighted  objects  he  easily  bal- 
ances the  important  group  on  the  other  side  of 
the  centre.  Indeed,  with  the  attractiveness  of 
the  clock,  vase,  plaque,  mantel  and  chest,  his  face 
would  have  added  a  grain  too  much,  and  this  the 
artist  happily  avoided  by  covering  it  with  the 
portfolio. 

[36] 


PORTRAIT  OF  SARA  BERNHARDT — Clairin 

Balance  Across  the  Natural  Axis 


LADY  WITH  MUFF— Photo  A.  He-wit t 

Steelyard  in  Perspective 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

In  the  portrait  study  of  "Lady  with  Muff," 
one  first  receives  the  impression  that  the  figure 
has  been  carelessly  placed  and,  indeed,  it  would 
go  for  a  one-sided  and  thoughtless  arrangement 
but  for  the  little  item,  almost  lost  in  shadow,  on 
the  left  side.  This  bit  of  detail  enables  the  eye 
to  penetrate  the  heavy  shadow,  and  is  a  good 
example  of  the  value  of  the  small  weight  on 
the  long  arm  of  the  steelyard,  which  balances  its 
opposing  heavy  weight. 

This  picture  is  trimmed  a  little  too  much  on  the 
top  to  balance  across  the  horizontal  line,  and,  in- 
deed, this  balance  is  the  least  important,  and,  in 
some  cases,  not  desirable  ;  but  the  line  of  light  fol- 
lowing down  from  the  face  and  across  the  muff 
and  into  the  lap  not  only  assists  this  balance,  but 
carries  the  eye  into  the  left  half,  and  for  that 
reason  is  very  valuable  in  the  lateral  balance, 
which  is  all  important  to  the  upright  subject. 

One  other  consideration  regarding  this  picture, 
in  the  matter  of  balance,  contains  a  principle : 
The  line  of  the  figure  curves  in  toward  the  flower 
and  pot  which  become  the  radius  of  the  whole 
inner  contour.  This  creates  an  elliptical  line  of 
observation,  which  being  the  arc  on  this  radius 
receives  a  pull  toward  its  centre.  There  is  a 
modicum  of  balance  in  the  mere  weight  of  this 
empty  space,  but  when  given  force  by  its  isola- 
tion, plus  the  concession  to  its  centripetal  sig- 
nificance, the  small  item  does  great  service  in 
settling  the  equilibrium  of  the  picture.  The 
lines  are  precisely  those  of  the  Kubens  recently 
added  to  the  Metropolitan  Museum,  wherein  the 
[39] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

figures  of  Mary,  her  mother,  Christ  and  John 
form  the  arc  and  the  bending  form  of  the  monk 
its  opposition  al  balance. 

In  proof  of  the  fact  that  the  half  balance,  or 
that  on  either  side  of  the  vertical  is  sufficient  in 
many  subjects,  see  such  portraits  in  which  the 
head  alone  is  attractive,  the  rest  being  suppressed 
in  detail  and  light,  for  the  sake  of  this  attraction. 

It  is  rarely  that  figure  art  deals  with  balance 
over  the  horizontal  central  line  in  conjunction 
with  balance  over  the  vertical. 

One  may  recall  photographs  of  figures  in 
which  the  positions  on  the  field  of  the  plate  are 
very  much  to  one  side  of  the  centre,  but  which 
have  the  qualifying  element  in  leading  line  or 
balance  by  an  isolated  measure  that  brings  them 
within  the  requirements  of  unity.  The  "  Brother 
and  Sister  " x  by  Miss  Kasebier — the  boy  in  sailor 
cap  crowding  up  to  the  face  and  form  of  his 
younger  sister, — owes  much  to  the  long,  strongly- 
relieved  line  of  the  boy's  side  and  leg  which  draws 
the  weight  to  the  opposite  side  of  the  picture.  In 
imagination  we  may  see  the  leg  below  the  knee 
and  know  how  far  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  cen- 
tral vertical  his  point  of  support  really  is.  The 
movement  in  both  figures  originates  from  this 
side  of  the  picture  as  the  lines  of  the  drapery 
show.  Deprive  such  a  composition  of  its  balan- 
cing line  and  instead  of  a  picture  we  would  have 
but  two  figures  on  one  side  of  a  plate. 

'See  "The  Pose  in  Portraiture,"  well-known  to  photogra- 
phers and  well  worthy  the  attention  of  painters.  Tennant  & 
Ward,  N.  Y. 

[40] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

HORIZONTAL  BALANCE. 

\ 
The  significance  of  the  horizontal  balance  is 

best  understood  in  landscape,  with  its  extended 
perspective.  Here  the  idea  becomes  reminiscent 
of  our  childhood's  "  teeter."  Conceiving  a  long 
space  from  foreground  to  distance,  occupied  with 
varied  degrees  of  interest,  it  is  apparent  how 
easily  one  end  may  become  too  heavy  for  the 
other.  The  tempering  of  such  a  chain  of  items 
until  the  equipoise  is  attained  must  be  coordinate 
with  the  effort  toward  the  lateral  balance. 

VERTICAL  AND  HORIZONTAL  BALANCE. 

In  the  "  Salute  to  the  Wounded,"  by  Detaille, 
complete  and  formal  balance  on  both  the  vertical 
and  horizontal  line  is  shown.  The  chief  of  staff 
is  on  one  side  of  centre,  balanced  by  the  officer  on 
the  other,  and  the  remaining  members  of  staff 
balance  the  German  infantry.  Although  the 
heads  of  prisoners  are  all  above  the  horizontal 
line,  three-fourths  of  the  body  comes  below — a 
just  equivalent — and,  in  the  case  of  the  horse- 
men, the  legs  and  bodies  of  the  horses  draw  down 
the  balance  toward  the  bottom  of  the  canvas, 
specially  aided  by  the  two  cuirassiers  in  the  left 
corner.  In  addition  to  this,  note  the  value  of 
the  placement  of  the  gray  horse  and  rider  at  left, 
as  a  means  of  interrupting  the  necessary  and  ob- 
jectionable line  of  feet  across  the  canvas  and 
leading  the  eye  into  the  picture  and  toward  the 
focus,  both  by  the  curve  to  the  left,  including  the 
black  horse,  and  also  by  the  direct  jump  across 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

the  picture,  through  the  white  horse  and  toward 
the  real  subject — i.  e.,  the  prisoners. 

Much  has  been  written  by  way  of  suggestion 
in  composition  dealing  with  this  picture  or  that 
to  illustrate  a  thought  which  might  have  been 
simplified  over  the  single  idea  of  balance  which 
contains  the  whole  secret  and  which  if  once 
understood  in  all  of  its  phases  of  possible  change 
will  establish  procedure  with  a  surety  indeed 
gratifying  to  him  who  halts  questioning  the  next 
step,  or  not  knowing  positively  that  the  one  he 
has  taken  is  correct. 

These  criticisms  vaguely  named  "confusion," 
"  stiffness,"  "scattered  quantity,"  etc.,  all  lead  in  to 
the  root,  unbalance,  and  are  to  be  corrected  there. 

Balance  is  of  importance  according  to  the 
number  of  units  to  be  composed.  Much  greater 
license  may  be  taken  in  settling  a  single  figure 
into  its  picture-space  than  when  the  composition 
involves  many.  In  fact  the  mind  pays  little 
heed  to  the  consideration  of  balance  until  a  com- 
plication of  many  units  forces  the  necessity  upon 
it.  The  painter  who  esteems  lightly  the  subject 
of  composition  is  usually  found  to  be  the  painter 
of  simple  subjects — portraits  and  non-discursive 
themes,  but  though  these  may  survive  in  antag- 
onism to  such  principles  their  authors  are  de- 
manding more  from  the  technical  quality  of  their 
work  than  is  its  mission  to  supply. 

The  first  two  main  lines,  if  they  touch  or 
cross,  start  a  composition.  After  that  it  is  neces- 
sary to  work  upon  the  picture  as  it  hangs  in  the 
balances. 

[42] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

The  inutility  of  considering  composition  in 
outline  or  in  solid  mass  of  tone  as  a  safe  first 
analysis  of  finished  work  is  evident  when  we  dis- 
cover that  not  until  we  have  brought  the  picture 
to  the  last  stage  of  detail  finish  do  we  fully  en- 
compass balance.  The  conception  which  looks 
acceptable  to  one's  general  idea  in  outline  may 
finish  all  askew;  or  the  scheme  of  Light  and 


Dark  in  one  or  two  flat  tones  minus  the  balance 
of  gradation  will  prove  false  as  many  times  as 
faithful,  as  it  draws  toward  completion.  It  is  be- 
cause of  this  that  artists  when  composing  roughly 
in  the  presence  of  nature  seldom  if  ever  produce 
note-book  sketches  which  lack  the  unity  of  grada- 
tion. It  is  the  custom  of  some  artists  to  paint  im- 
portant pictures  from  such  data  which,  put  down 
hot  when  the  impression  is  compulsory,  contain 
[43] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

more  of  the  essence  of  the  subject  than  the  faith- 
ful "  study  "  done  at  leisure. 

The  possibilities  of  balanced  arrangement  be- 
ing so  extensive,  susceptible  in  fact  of  the  most 
eccentric  and  fantastic  composition,  it  follows 
that  its  adaptability  to  all  forms  of  presentation 
disarms  argument  against  it.  In  almost  every 
case,  when  the  work  of  an  accomplished  painter 
fails  to  convince,  through  that  completeness 
which  of  all  qualities  stands  first,  when,  after 
the  last  word  has  been  said  by  him,  when  na- 
ture, in  short,  has  been  satisfied  and  the  work 
still  continues  in  its  feeble  state  of  insurrection, 
which  many  artists  will  confess  it  frequently  re- 
quires years  to  quell,  it  is  sure  proof  that  way 
back  in  the  early  construction  of  such  a  picture 
some  element  of  unbalance  had  been  allowed. 

THE  NATUKAL  Axis. 

In  varying  degrees  pictures  express  what  may 
be  termed  a  natural  axis,  on  which  their  com- 
ponents arrange  themselves  in  balanced  compo- 
sition. This  axis  is  the  visible  or  imaginary  line 
which  the  eye  accepts  connecting  the  two  most 
prominent  measures  or  such  a  line  which  first  ar- 
rests the  attention.  If  there  be  but  one  figure, 
group  or  measure,  and  there  be  an  opening  or 
point  of  attraction  through  the  background  di- 
verting the  vision  from  such  to  it,  then  this  line 
of  direction  becomes  the  axis.  The  axis  does 
not  merely  connect  two  points  within  the  pic- 
ture, but  pierces  it,  and  the  near  end  of  the  shaft 
has  much  to  do  with  this  balance. 
[44] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

Balance  across  the  centre  effects  the  unity  of 
the  picture  in  its  limitations  with  its  frame. 
Balance  on  the  axis  expresses  the  natural 
balance  of  the  subject  as  we  feel  it  in  nature 
when  it  touches  us  personally  and  would  connect 
our  spirit  with  its  own. 

We  discern  the  former  more  readily  where  the 
subject  confronts  us  with  little  depth  of  back- 
ground. We  get  into  the  movement  of  the  latter 
when  the  reach  is  far  in,  and  we  feel  the  subject 
revolving  on  its  pivot  and  stretching  one  arm 
toward  us  while  the  other  penetrates  the  vis- 
ible or  the  unknown  distance. 

Balance  constructed  over  this  line  will  bring 
the  worker  to  as  unified  a  result  as  the  use  of  the 
steelyard  on  the  central  vertical  line. 

In  this  method  there  is  less  restraint  and  when 
the  axis  is  well  marked  it  is  best  to  take  it.  Not 
every  subject  develops  it  however.  It  is  easily 
felt  in  Clairin's  portrait  of  Sarah  Bernhardt,  the 
"  Lady  with  Muff,"  "  The  Path  of  the  Surf,"  and 
in  the  line  of  the  horse,  Indian,  and  sunset. 
When  the  axis  is  found,  its  force  should  be  modi- 
fied by  opposed  lines  or  measures,  on  one  or 
both  sides.  In  these  four  examples  good  compo- 
sition has  been  effected  in  proportion  as  such 
balance  is  indicated ;  in  the  first  by  dog  and 
palm,  in  the  second  by  flower-pot,  in  the  third  by 
the  light  on  the  stubble  and  cloud  in  left  hand 
corner,  and  in  the  last  by  the  rocks  and  open 
sea. 

A  further  search  among  the  accompanying 
illustrations  would  reveal  it  in  the  sweeping  line 
[45] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

of  cuirassiers,  balanced  by  the  group  about 
Napoleon,  the  line  of  the  hulk  and  the  light  of 
the  sky  in  "Her  Last  Moorings,"  the  central 
curved  line  in  "  The  body  of  Patroclus,"  the 
diagonal  line  through  the  arm  of  Ariadne  into 
the  forearm  of  Bacchus. 

APPARENT  OR  FORMAL  BALANCE. 

Raphael  is  a  covenient  point  at  which  to  com- 
mence a  study  of  composition.  His  style  was 
influenced  by  three  considerations :  warning  by 
the  pitfalls  of  composition  into  which  his  pred- 
ecessors had  fallen;  confidence  that  the  abso- 
lutely formal  balance  was  safe ;  and  lack  of  ex- 
perience to  know  that  anything  else  was  as 
good.  To  these  may  be  added  the  environment 
for  which  most  of  his  works  were  produced.  His 
was  an  architectural  plan  of  arrangement,  and 
this  well  suited  both  the  dignity  of  his  subject 
and  the  chaste  conceptions  of  a  well  poised  mind. 

Raphael,  therefore,  stands  as  the  chief  expo- 
nent of  the  formal  composition.  His  plan  was  to 
place  the  figure  of  greatest  importance  in  the 
centre.  This  should  have  its  support  in  balan- 
cing figures  on  either  side ;  an  attempt  then,  often 
observable  was  to  weaken  this  set  formality  by 
other  objects  wherein,  though  measure  responded 
to  measure,  there  was  a  slight  change  in  kind  or 
degree,  the  whole  arrangement  resembling  that 
of  an  army  in  battle  array;  with  its  centre, 
flanks  and  skirmishers.  The  balance  of  equal 
measures — seen  in  his  "  Sistine  Madonna,"  is  con- 
spicuous in  most  ecclesiastical  pictures  of  that 
[46] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

period,  notably  the  "  Last  Supper  of  Leonardo  "  in 
which  two  groups  of  three  persons  each  are  posed 
on  either  side  of  the  pivotal  figure. 

This  has  become  the  standard  arrangement  for 
all  classical  balanced  composition  in  pictorial 
decoration.  The  doubling  of  objects  on  either 
side  of  a  central  figure  not  only  gives  to  it  im- 
portance, but  contributes  to  the  composition  that 
quietude,  symmetry  and  solemnity  so  compatible 
with  religious  feeling  or  decorative  requirement. 
The  objection  to  this  plan  of  balance  is  that  it 
divides  the  picture  into  equal  parts,  neither  one 
having  precedence,  and  the  subdivisions  may  be 
continued  indefinitely.  For  this  reason  it  has  no 
place  in  genre  art.  Its  antiphonal  responses  be- 
long to  the  temple.  A  more  objectionable  form 
of  balance  on  the  centre  is  that  in  which  the 
centre  is  of  small  importance.  This  cuts  the 
picture  into  halves  without  reason.  The  "  Dutch 
Peasants  on  the  Shore,"  by  Artz,  and  "The 
Poulterers,"  and  David's  "Rape  of  the  Sabine 
Women,"  are  axamples. 

In  the  group  of  peasants,  the  picture  is  en- 
tirely included  by  the  outer  circuit  of  the 
figures,  the  spaces  beyond  are  excluded  from 
the  calculation  and  might  be  cut  off  or  extended 
without  claiming  attention.  Unaccounted-for 
space  is  bad  economy.  Every  inch  of  surface 
should  play  its  part. 

The    circular     group    of    Dagnan-Bouveret's 

"Pardon  in  Brittany,"  where  the  peasants  are 

squatted  on  the  left  in  the  foreground  is  a  daring 

bit  of  balance,  finding  its  justification  in  the 

[47] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

movement  of  interest  toward  the  right  in  the 
background. 

In  all  forms,  save  the  classic  decoration  it 
should  be  the  artist's  effort  to  conceal  the  balance 
over  the  centre. 

In  avoiding  the  equal  divisions  of  the  picture 
plane  a  practical  plan  of  construction  is  based 
upon  the  strong  points  as  opposed  to  the  weak 
ones.  It  assumes  that  the  weak  point  is  the 


centre,  and  that  in  all  types  of  composition  where 
formality  is  not  desired  the  centre  is  to  be 
avoided.  Any  points  equi-distant  from  any  two 
sides  are  also  weak  points.  The  inequalities  in 
distance  should  bear  a  mathematical  ratio  to  each 
other  as  one  and  two-thirds,  two  and  three-fifths. 
These  points  will  be  strongest  and  best  adapted 
for  the  placement  of  objects  which  are  distant 
from  the  boundary  lines  and  the  corners,  in  de- 
grees most  varied. 

[48] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

If  we  take  a  canvas  of  ordinary  proportion, 
namely,  one  whose  length  is  equal  to  the  hy- 
pothenuse  on  the  square  of  its  breadth,  as  28x36 
or  18x24  and  divide  it  into  unequal  divisions  as 
three,  five  or  seven,  we  will  produce  points  on 
which  good  composition  will  result. 

The  reason  for  this  is  that  the  remaining  two- 
thirds  becomes  a  unit  as  has  the  one-third.  If 
the  larger  is  given  the  precedence  it  carries  the 
interest;  if  not  it  must  be  sacrificed  to  the 
smaller  division.  On  this  principle  it  may  be 
seen  that  a  figure  could  occupy  a  position  in  the 
centre  which  if  it  tied  itself  in  a  positive  way  to 
that  division  which  carried  the  remainder  of  the 
interest  it  would  be  unobjectionable  as  an  element 
dividing  the  picture  into  equal  parts. 

The  formula  is  always  productive  of  excellent 
results. 

This  proportional  division  of  the  picture  one 
may  find  in  the  best  of  Claude  Lorraine's  land- 
scapes, with  him  a  favorite  method  of  construc- 
tion. It  suggests  the  pillars  and  span  for  a  sus- 
pension trestle.  "When,  as  is  invariably  seen  in 
Claude's  works  the  nearest  one  is  in  shadow,  the 
vision  is  projected  from  this  through  the  space 
intervening  to  the  distant  and  more  attractive 
one.  A  feeling  of  great  depth  is  inseparable 
from  this  arrangement. 

BALANCE  BY  OPPOSITION  OF  LINE. 
A  series  of  oppositional  lines  has  more  variety 
and  is  therefore  more  picturesque  than  the  tan- 
gent its  equivalent.     The  simplest  definition  of 
[49] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

picturesqueness  is  variety  in  unity.  The  lines  of 
the  long  road  in  perspective  offer  easy  conduct 
for  the  eye,  but  it  finds  a  greater  interest  in 
threading  its  way  over  a  track  lost,  then  found, 
lost  and  found  again.  In  time  we  as  surely 
arrive  from  a  to  z  by  one  route  as  by  the  other, 
but  in  one  the  journey  has  had  the  greater  in- 
terest. 

Imagine  a  hillside  and  sky  offered  as  a  picture. 
The  hillside  is  without  detail,  the  sky  a  blank. 
The  first  item  introduced  attracts  the  eye,  the 
second  and  third  are  joined  with  the  first.  If 
they  parallel  the  line  of  the  hillside  they  do 
nothing  toward  the  development  of  the  picture 
but  rather  harm  by  introducing  an  element  of 
monotony.  If,  however,  they  are  so  placed  as 
to  accomplish  opposition  and  transition  they  help 
to  send  the  eye  on  its  travels. 

No  better  example  of  this  principle  can  be  cited 
than  Mr.  Alfred  Steiglitz's  pictorial  photograph 
of  two  Dutch  women  on  the  shore.  The  lines 
of  ropes  through  the  foreground  connect  with 
others  in  the  middle  distance  leading  tangentially 
to  the  house  beyond. 

To  one  who  fences  or  has  used  the  broad 
sword  a  feeling  for  oppositional  line  should  come 
as  second  nature.  A  long  sweeping  stroke  must 
be  parried  or  opposed  frankly ;  the  reposte  must 
also  be  parried.  A  bout  is  a  picturesque  compo- 
sition of  two  men  and  two  minds  in  which  unity 
of  the  whole  and  of  the  parts  is  preserved  by  the 
balance  of  opposed  measures.  The  analogy  is 
appropriate.  The  artist  stands  off  brush  in  hand 

[50] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

and  fights  his  subject  to  a  finish,  the  force  of  one 
stroke  neutralizing  and  parrying  another.  This 
is  as  true  of  linear  as  color  composition,  where 
the  scheme  is  one  producing  harmony  by  oppo- 
sition of  colors. 

In  the  photograph  of  the  Indian  and  horse  we 
have  a  subject  full  of  fine  quality.  (See  page  53.) 
The  demonstration  occurs  in  the  sky  at  just  the 
right  place  to  serve  as  a  balance  for  the  heavy 
measures  of  the  foreground  and  the  interest  is 
drawn  back  into  the  picture  and  to  the  upper  left 
hand  corner  by  the  two  cloud  forms,  over  which  is 
sharply  thrown  a  barricade  of  cloud  which  turns 


the  vision  back  into  the  picture.  The  simplicity  of 
the  three  broad  tones  is  appropriate  to  the  senti- 
ment of  vastness  which  the  picture  contains. 
The  figure  seated  in  revery  before  this  expanse 
supplies  the  mental  element  to  the  subject,  the 
antithesis  of  which  is  the  interest  of  the  horse, 
earthward.  Each  one  has  his  way,  and  in  the 
choice  by  each  is  the  definition  of  man  and  brute, 
a  separation  which  the  pose  of  each  figure  indi- 
cates through  physical  disunion.  The  space  be- 
tween them  widens  upon  the  horizon  line.  To 
establish  the  necessary  pictorial  connection  or  at 
least  a  hint  of  it  suggests  three  devices.  A  lariat 
in  a  curving  line  might  be  slightly  indicated 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

through  the  grass :  the  foreground  might  be  cut 
so  as  to  limit  the  range  toward  us  ;  or  a  broken 
line  may  be  constructed  diagonally  from  the 
horse's  left  foot  by  a  few  accents  in  the  light  of 
the  stubble.  In  the  first,  the  union  is  effected 
by  transition  of  line  ;  in  the  last  by  opposition  of 
the  spot  of  the  figure  to  the  line  of  the  horse's 
shoulder  and  leg  extended  by  a  line  through  the 
grass.  Opposition  is  always  stronger  in  propor- 
tion as  the  spot  opposes  the  centre  of  the  line. 
For  that  reason  were  the  figure  raised  it  would 
have  been  better  placed  for  such  opposition,  as 
well  as  effecting  transition  of  line  with  the  hori- 
zon with  which  it  now  effects  the  less  potent 
quality  of  opposition. 

BALANCE  BY  OPPOSITION  OF  SPOTS. 
Spots  or  accents  are  in  the  majority  of  cases 
equivalent  to  a  line.  The  eye  follows  the  line 
more  easily,  but  the  spot  is  a  potent  force  of  at- 
traction and  we  take  the  artist's  hint  in  his  use 
of  it,  often  finding  that  its  subtlety  is  worth 
more  than  the  line's  strength.  In  the  case  of  a 
simple  hillside  back-stopped  by  a  dense  mass  of 
trees,  a  flat  and  an  upright  plane  are  presented, 
but  until  the  vision  is  carried  into  and  beyond 
the  line  of  juncture  the  opposition  of  mere  planes 
accomplishes  little,  the  only  thing  thus  estab- 
lished being  a  strong  effect  of  light  and  shade 
and  not  until  the  eye  is  coaxed  into  the  sky  so 
that  there  be  established  a  union  between  the 
pathway  or  other  object  on  the  hill  and  the 
distance,  balance  by  transition  will  be  effected. 
[52] 


WESTERN  WASTES — Photo  A .  C.  Bode 
Opposition  of  Light  and  Dark  Measures 


THE  CABARET — L.  L'hermitte 
Opposition  Plus  Transition 


ALONG  THE  SHORE — Photo  by  Geo.  Butler 


Transitional  Line 


PATHLESS — Photo  by  A.  Hartley  Hinton 
Transitional  Line 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

This  is  one  of  the  subtlest  and  most  necessary 
principles  in  landscape  composition.  The  illus- 
tration herewith  is  of  the  simplest  nature  but  the 
principle  may  be  expanded  indefinitely  as  it  has 
to  do  both  with  lateral  and  perspective  balance. 

In  the  "  Death  of  Caesar,"  the  perspective  line 
of  the  statues  and  the  opposite  curve  in  the  floor 
are  continued  through  the  opposing  mass  of  col- 
umns and  wall  to  the  court  beyond,  a  positive 
control  of  the  distance  by  the  foreground,  being 
thus  secured. 

TRANSITION  OF  LINE. 

More  effective  than  opposition,  as  the  cross  bar 
is  more  effective  for  strength  than  the  bar  sup- 
ported on  only  one  side,  is  Transition,  or  the 
same  item  carried  across,  or  delivered  to  another 
item  which  shall  cross  a  line  or  space. 

In  the  group  of  peasants  in  the  Cabaret  note 
the  use  of  lines  of  opposition  and  transition,  in 
both  the  single  figures  when  taken  in  twos. 
The  laborer  (with  shovel)  in  his  upper  and  lower 
extremities  exhibits  a  large  cross  which  becomes 
larger  when  we  add  the  table  on  which  his  ex- 
tended arm  rests  and  the  figure  standing  behind 
him.  The  ascent  of  this  vertical  is  stopped  by 
the  line  of  the  mantel  and  then  continued  by  the 
plate  and  picture.  So  in  minor  parts  of  this 
group  one  may  think  out  the  rugged  energy  of 
its  composition,  nor  anywhere  discover  a  single 
curved  or  flowing  line.  Nor  does  it  require  an 
experienced  eye  to  note  the  pyramidal  structure 
of  the  various  parts.  In  the  action  of  the  heads 
[55J 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

and  bodies  of  the  two  central  figures  is  another 
strong  example  of  oppositional  arrangement. 
The  heavily  braced  table  is  typical  of  the  whole. 

In  landscape  the  transitional  line  from  land 
into  sky  is  often  impossible  and  objectionable. 
The  sentiment  of  the  subject  may  deny  any  at- 
tempt at  this  union.  Here  the  principle  only^ 
should  be  hinted  at.  In  the  case  of  a  sunset  sky 
where  the  clouds  float  as  parallel  bars  above  the 
horizon  and  thus  show  the  character  of  a  quiet 
and  windless  closing  of  day,  a  transitional  line 
such  as  a  tree,  mast  or  spire  may  be  unavailable. 
Oppositional  spots  or  lines  attracting  the  vision 
into  the  land  and  thus  diverting  it  from  the  hor- 
izontals are  the  only  recourse.  In  the  shore 
view  the  sun's  rays  create  a  series  of  lines  which 
admirably  unite  with  the  curve  of  the  wagon 
tracks.  The  union  of  sky  and  land  is  thus  af- 
fected and  meanwhile  the  subject  proper  has  its 
ruggedness  associated  with  the  graceful  compass 
of  these  elements. 

In  fact  transitional  line  is  so  powerful  that  un- 
less it  contains  a  part  of  the  subject  it  should 
seldom  be  used. 

In  the  "Annunciation"  by  Botticelli  the  in- 
troduction of  a  long  perspective  line  beyond  the 
figures,  continuing  the  lines  of  the  foreground, 
railroads  the  vision  right  through  the  subject, 
carrying  it  out  of  the  picture.  If  the  attention 
is  pinned  perforce  on  the  subject,  one  feels  the 
interruption  and  annoyance  of  this  unnecessary 
landscape.  The  whole  Italian  school  of  the 
Renaissance  weakened  the  force  of  its  portraits 
[56] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

and  figure  pictures  by  these  elaborate  settings 
which  they  seemed  helpless  to  govern.  In 
Velasquez  we  frequently  find  the  simplification 
of  background  which  saves  the  entire  interest 
for  the  subject ;  but  even  he  in  his  "  Spinners  " 
and  to  a  lesser  degree  in  some  other  compo- 
sitions, makes  the  same  error.  In  the  greatest 
of  Rembrandt's  portrait  groups,  "  The  Syndics," 
his  problem  involved  the  placement  of  six 
figures.  Four  are  seated  at  the  far  side  of  a 
table  looking  toward  us,  the  fifth,  on  the  near 
side,  rises  and  looks  toward  us.  His  head, 
higher  than  those  of  the  row  of  four,  breaks  this 
line  of  formality ;  but  the  depth  and  perspective 
of  the  picture  is  not  secured  until  the  figure 
standing  in  the  background  is  added.  This  pro- 
duces from  the  foreground  figure,  through  one 
of  the  seated  figures,  the  transitional  line  which 
pulls  the  composition  forward  and  backward  and 
makes  a  circular  composition  of  what  was  com- 
menced upon  a  line  sweeping  across  the  entire 
canvas. 

The  hillside  entitled  "Pathless,"  by  Horsley 
Hinton  is  a  subject  easily  passed  in  nature  as 
ordinary,  which  has  been  however  unified  and 
made  available  through  the  understanding  of 
this  principle.  So  much  of  an  artist  is  its  author 
that  I  can  see  him  down  on  his  knees  cutting 
out  the  mass  of  blackberry  stems  so  that  the  two 
or  three  required  in  the  foreground  should  strike 
as  lines  across  the  demi-dark  of  the  lower  middle 
space.  The  line  of  the  hill  had  cut  this  off  from 
the  foreground  and  these  attractive  lines  are  as 
[57] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

cords  tying  it  on.  From  the  light  rock  in 
the  lower  centre  the  eye  zigzags  up  to  the  line 
of  hillside,  cutting  the  picture  from  one  side 
to  the  other.  Fortunately  nature  had  supplied  a 
remedy  here  in  the  trees  which  divert  this  line. 
But  this  is  insisted  on  in  the  parallelism  of  the 
distant  mountains.  The  artist,  however,  has  the 
last  word.  He  has  created  a  powerful  diversion 
in  the  sky,  bringing  down  strong  lines  of  light 
and  a  sense  of  illumination  over  the  hill  and  into 
the  foreground.  The  subject,  unpromising  in  its 
original  lines,  has  thus  been  redeemed.  This 
sort  of  work  is  in  advance  of  the  public,  but 
should  find  its  reward  with  the  elect. 

BALANCE  BY  GRADATION. 

Gradation  will  be  mentioned  in  another  con- 
nection but  as  a  force  in  balance  it  must  be 
noticed  here.  It  matters  not  whither  the  tone 
grades,  from  light  to  dark  or  the  reverse,  the  eye 
will  be  drawn  to  it  very  powerfully  because 
it  suggests  motion.  Gradation  is  the  perspective 
of  shade ;  and  perspective  we  recognize  as  one  of 
the  dynamic  forces  in  art.  "When  the  vision  is 
delivered  over  to  a  space  which  contains  no 
detail  and  nought  but  gradation,  the  original  im- 
pulse of  the  line  is  continued. 

Gradation,  as  an  agent  of  light,  exhibits  its 
loveliest  effect  and  becomes  one  of  the  most  in- 
teresting and  useful  elements  of  picture  construc- 
tion. 

As  a  force  in  balance  it  may  frequently  re- 
place detail  when  added  items  are  unnecessary. 
[58] 


ON  THE  THAMES — C.  A.  Platt 


HER  LAST  MOORINGS — From  a  Photograph 

Gradation  vs.  Detail 


PHOTOGRAPHY  NEARING  THE  PICTORIAL 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

In  "  Her  Last  Moorings "  the  heavy  timbers, 
black  and  positive  in  the  right  foreground,  clog 
the  entrance  and  divide  the  interest.  The  di- 
version from  the  hulk  to  the  sky  is  easy  and 
direct  and  forms  the  natural  axis.  A  substitu- 
tion for  the  foreground  item  is  a  simple  grada- 
tion, balancing  a  like  gradation  in  the  sky. 

The  measure  of  light  and  dark  when  mixed  is 
tonically  the  same  as  the  gray  of  the  gradation 
— but  its  attraction  is  weakened. 

BALANCE  OF  PRINCIPALITY  OR  ISOLATION. 

These  qualities  are  not  synonymous  but  so 
nearly  so  that  they  are  mentioned  together.  In 
discussing  the  principle  of  the  steelyard  it  was 
stated  that  a  small  item  could  balance  a  very 
large  one  whose  position  in  point  of  balance  was 
closer  to  the  fulcrum,  but  to  this  point  must 
be  added  the  increase  of  weight  and  importance 
which  isolation  gives.  These  considerations 
need  not  be  mystifying. 

In  the  charge  to  Peter,  "Feed  my  sheep," 
Kaphael  has  produced  something  quite  at  va- 
riance with  his  ordinary  plan  of  construction. 
Christ  occupies  one  side  of  the  canvas,  the  dis- 
ciples following  along  the  foreplane  toward  him. 

Here  is  an  isolated  figure  the  equivalent  of  a 
group. 

The  sleeping  senator  of  Gerome's  picture  ef- 
fects a  like  purpose  among  the  empty  benches 
and  pillars.  The  main  group  is  placed  near  the 
centre,  the  small  item  at  the  extreme  edge. 
Even  Caesar  in  the  foreground — covered  by 
[61] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

drapery  and  in  half  shadow — is  less  potent  as  an 
item  of  balance,  than  this  separate  figure. 

BALANCE  OF  CURVATURE. 

Hogarth  writing  in  1753,  on  the  Analysis  of 
Beauty  produced  a  scale  of  curved  lines  and 
selected  from  the  seven  (No.  4)  as  containing  the 
greatest  beauty.  Here  then  is  a  form  that  bal- 
ances itself  on  the  centre  and  may  be  accepted 
as  a  good  base  line  in  either  the  vertical,  hori- 
zontal or  diagonal  placement. 

Again,  this  balance  is  beautifully  illustrated  in 
the  standing  figure,  the  equipoise  being  main- 
tained by  oppositional  curves  in  the  upper  and 
lower  extremities.  Applying  this  principle  to  a 
more  composite  design  see  the  "  Kepose  of  the 
Barley  Reapers  "  (page  128),  or  the  curve  balanc- 
ing curve  of  the  landscape  herewith,  not  in  its 
reflection  but  on  either  side  of  a  line  bisecting 
the  horizontal,  the  point  to  be  noted  being  the 
equal  measure  of  rhythm  on  either  side  of  the 
vertical.  The  value  of  this  line  will  be  more 
fully  developed  in  connection  with  the  fifth 
of  the  fundamental  forms  of  construction,  the 
letter  S. 


[62] 


CHAPTER  IV 

EVOLVING  THE  PICTURE 

THE  artist  gets  his  picture  from  two  sources. 
He  either  goes  forth  and  finds  it,  or  creates  it. 
If  he  creates  it  the  work  is  deliberate,  and  the 
artist  assumes  responsibility.  If  he  goes  to  na- 
ture, he  and  nature  form  a  partnership,  she  sup- 
plying the  material  and  he  the  experience.  In 
editing  the  material  thus  supplied,  the  artist  dis- 
covers how  great  is  the  disparity  between  art 
and  nature,  and  what  a  disproof  nature  herself  is 
to  the  common  notion  that  art  is  mirrored  na- 
ture, and  that  any  part  of  her  drawn  or  painted 
will  make  a  picture. 

The  first  stage  of  the  art  collector  is  that  in 
which  his  admiration  dwells  on  imitation  such  as 
the  still-life  painter  gives  him,  but  soon  his  art 
sense  craves  an  expression  with  thought  in  it,  the 
imitation,  brow-beaten  into  its  proper  place  and 
the  creative  instinct  of  the  artist  visible.  In 
other  words,  he  seeks  the  constructive  sense  of 
the  man  who  paints  the  picture.  "  The  work  of 
art  is  an  appeal  to  another  mind,  and  it  cannot 
draw  out  more  than  that  mind  contains.  But  to 
enjoy  is,  as  it  were,  to  create ;  to  understand  is  a 
form  of  equality." l  "With  the  horse  before  the 
cart  and  the  artist  holding  the  reins,  he  gets  a 

1  "  Considerations  on  Painting,"  John  LaFarge. 
[63] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

fresh  start,  and  is  in  a  fair  way  to  comprehend 
Richard  Wagner's  assertion  that  you  cannot 
have  art  without  the  man.  In  the  same  manner 
does  the  student  usually  develop.  "With  the 
book  of  nature  before  him  he  is  eager  to  sit 
down  anywhere  and  read,  attracted  by  each 
separate  item  of  the  vast  pattern,  but  he  finds 
he  has  opened  nature's  dictionary  and  that  to 
make  poetry  or  even  good  prose  he  must  put  the 
separate  words  and  phrases  together. 

After  the  first  roll  of  films  has  been  printed 
and  brooded  over,  the  kodac  person  is  apt  to  ask 
in  a  tone  of  injured  and  deceived  innocence, 
"  Well,  what  does  make  a  picture  ?  " 

He  with  others  has  supposed  it  possible  to  go 
to  nature  and,  taking  nothing  with  him,  bring 
something  back.  Though  one  does  not  set  out 
with  the  rules  of  composition,  he  must  at  least 
present  himself  before  nature  with  fixed  notions 
of  the  few  requirements  which  all  pictures  de- 
mand. Having  looked  at  a  counterfeit  of  her 
within  four  sides  of  a  frame  and  learned  to  know 
why  a  limited  section  of  her  satisfied  him  by  its 
completeness  he  approaches  her  out  of  doors 
with  greater  prospects  of  success  than  though  he 
had  not  settled  this  point.  Good  art,  of  the 
gallery,  is  the  best  guide  to  a  trip  afield.  Having 
seen  what  elements  and  what  arrangements  have 
proved  available  in  the  hands  of  other  men,  the 
student  will  not  go  astray  if  he  seek  like  forms 
in  nature.  Armed  with  defininite  convictions  he 
will  see,  through  her  bewildering  meshes  the 
faithful  lines  he  needs.  The  star  gazer  with  a 
[64] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

quest  for  the  constellations  of  the  Pleiades 
or  the  Great  Bear,  must  close  his  eyes  to 
many  irrelevant  stars  which  do  not  fit  the 
figure.  Originality  does  not  require  the  avoid- 
ance of  principles  used  by  others.  Pictorial 
forms  are  world's  property.  Originality  only 
demands  "the  causing  to  pass  into  our  own 
work  a  personal  view  of  the  world  and  of  life." 
Personality  in  ninety-nine  cases  out  of  a  hundred 
is  a  graft.  The  forms  of  artistic  expression  have 
been  preempted  long  ago.  The  men  who  had 
the  first  chances  secured  the  truest  forms  of  it 
and  in  a  running  glance  through  a  miscellaneous 
collection  of  prints  one's  attention  is  invariably 
arrested  by  the  force  of  the  pictures  by  the  older 
masters;  so  dominating  is  the  first  impression 
that  we  concede  the  case  upon  the  basis  of  effect 
before  discovering  the  many  obstacles  and  omis- 
sions counting  against  their  greater  efficiency. 
But  the  essence  is  of  the  living  sort.  "With  this 
conceded  and  the  fact  that  nature's  appeal  is 
always  strongest  when  made  through  association 
with  man  it  is  for  us  to  cultivate  these  associa- 
tions. 

"Study  nature  attentively,"  says  Keynolds, 
"  but  always  with  the  masters  in  your  company ; 
consider  them  as  models  which  you  are  to  imi- 
tate, and  at  the  same  time  as  rivals,  with  whom 
you  are  to  contend." 

A  wise  teacher  has  said  the  quickest  road  to 
originality  is  through  the  absorption  of  other 
men's  ideas. 

Before  going  forth  therefore  with  a  canvas  or 
[65] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

plate  holder,  it  behooves  us  first  to  know  what 
art  is.  Certainly  the  most  logical  step  from  the 
study  of  constructive  form  is  through  the  prac- 
tical technique  of  work  which  we  would  emulate. 
To  copy  interpretations  of  outdoor  nature  by 
others  is  commendable  either  at  the  experimental 
period,  when  looking  for  a  technique,  or  as  an 
appreciation. 

Besides  this  mental  preparation,  the  next  best 
equipment  for  finding  pictures  is  a  Claude  Lor- 
raine glass,  because,  being  a  convex  mirror,  it 
shows  a  reduced  image  of  nature  in  a  frame. 
The  frame  is  important  not  only  because  it 
designates  the  limitations  of  a  picture,  but  be- 
cause it  cuts  it  free  from  the  abstracting  details 
which  surround  it.  If  one  has  not  such  a  glass, 
a  series  of  small  pasteboard  frames  will  answer. 
The  margin  should  be  wide  enough  to  allow  the 
eye  to  rest  without  disturbance  upon  the  open 
space.  Two  rectangular  pieces  that  may  be 
pushed  together  from  top  or  side  is  probably  the 
most  complete  device.  The  proportion  of  the 
frame  is  therefore  adaptable  to  the  subject  and 
the  picture  may  be  cut  off  top,  bottom  or  sides 
as  demanded. 

Many  artists  reduce  all  subjects  to  two  or  three 
sizes,  which  they  habitually  paint.  The  view- 
meter  may  in  such  cases  be  further  simplified  by 
using  a  stiff  cardboard  with  such  proportions  cut 
out.  By  having  them  all  on  a  single  board  a 
subject  may  be  more  rapidly  tested  than  by  the 
device  of  the  collapsible  sides.  A  light  board, 
the  thickness  of  a  cigar-box  cover,  4x5  inches,. 
[66] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

and  easily  carried  in  the  pocket,  will  enable  one 
to  land  his  subject  in  his  canvas  exactly  as  he 
wants  it,  and  avoid  the  grievance  of  reconstruc- 
tion later.  By  leaving  a  broad  margin  about  the 
openings,  one  obtains  the  impression  of  a  picture 
in  its  mat  or  frame,  and  may  judge  of  it  in  na- 
ture as  he  will  after  regard  it  when  completed 
and  on  exhibition. 

The  accompanying  photograph  was  produced 
by  a  revolving  camera  encompassing  an  area  of 
120  degrees.  As  a  composition  it  is  not  bad,  but 
unfortunate  here  and  there.  It  has  a  well-defined 
centre,  and  the  two  sides  balance  well,  the  left 
clogging  the  vision  and  thus  giving  way  to  the 
right,  which  allows  the  eye  to  pass  out  of  the 
picture  on  this  side  beyond  the  fountain  and 
across  the  stretch  of  sunlight.  At  a  glance, 
however,  one  may  see  three  complete  pictures, 
and  with  the  aid  of  the  view-meter  a  number  of 
other  combinations  may  be  developed.  Its  con- 
struction is  that  of  Hobbema's  "Alley  near 
Middelharnes,"  in  the  National  Gallery,  London, 
of  so  pronounced  formality  that  a  number  of 
such  construction  in  a  gallery,  would  prove 
monotonous. 

Beginning  on  the  left,  we  may  apply  the  view- 
meter  first  to  exclude  the  unnecessary  branch 
forms  and  sky  space  on  the  top ;  second,  to  cut 
away  the  tree  on  the  right,  which,  in  that  it  par- 
allels the  line  of  the  margin,  is  objectionable,  and 
is  rendered  unnecessary  as  a  side  for  the  picture 
by  the  two  trees  beyond  in  the  middle  plane ; 
and,  third,  to  limit  the  extent  of  the  picture  on 
[67] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

the  bottom,  tending  as  it  does  to  force  the  spec- 
tator back  and  &wa.y  from  the  subject  proper. 
The  interest  is  divided  between  the  white  build- 
ing and  rustic  bridge  and  the  pivot  of  this  com- 
position adjusts  itself  in  line  with  the  centre  tree. 
In  the  next  picture  the  first  tree  on  left  of 
avenue  is  cut  away  for  the  same  reason  as  in  the 
previous  arrangement,  and  although  one  of  a  line 
of  trees  in  perspective,  the  trunk  as  an  item  is 
unserviceable,  as  its  branches  start  above  the 
point  where  the  top  line  occurs,  and  can  there- 
fore render  no  assistance  in  destroying  an  abso- 
lute vertical  as  has  been  done  in  the  left  tree  by 
the  bifurcation,  and  the  first  on  the  right  by  the 
encroaching  masses  of  leaves.  The  eye  follows 
the  receding  lines  of  roadway  beneath  the  can- 
opy and  is  led  out  of  the  picture  by  the  light 
above  the  hill.  The  last  arrangement  is  more 
formal  than  either  of  the  others  but  gives  us  the 
good  old  form  of  composition  frequently  adopted 
by  Turner,  Kousseau,  Dupre,  and  others,  namely 
of  designing  an  encasement  for  the  subject 
proper,  through  which  to  view  it.  For  that 
reason  after  the  arch  overhead  has  been  secured 
all  else  above  is  cut  away  as  useless.  The  print 
has  been  cut  a  little  on  the  right,  as  by  this 
means  the  foreground  tree  is  placed  nearer  that 
side  and  also  because  the  extra  space  allowed  too 
free  an  escapement  of  the  eye  through  this 
portal,  the  natural  focus  of  course  being  the 
fountain  where  the  eye  should  rest  at  once.  It 
has  been  cut  on  the  bottom  so  as  to  exclude  the 
line  where  the  road  and  the  grass  meet — an  es- 
[68] 


THREE  PICTURES  FOUND  WITH  THE  VIEW-METRE.     (See  Page  69.) 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

pecially  bad  line,  paralleling  the  bottom  of  the 
picture  and  line  of  shadow  upon  the  grass.  This 
shadow  is  valuable  as  completing  the  encase- 
ment of  the  subject  on  the  bottom  and  in  start- 
ing the  eye  well  into  the  picture  toward  its 
subject. 

Our  natural  vision  always  seeks  the  light. 
Shadows  are  the  carum  cushions  from  which  the 
sight  recoils  in  its  quest  for  this.  Letting  the 
eye  into  the  picture  over  a  foreground  of  sub- 
dued interest,  or  better  still,  of  no  interest  is  one 
of  the  most  time-honored  articles  of  the  picture- 
maker's  creed.  If  the  reader  will  compare  the 
first  and  last  of  these  three  compositions  he  will 
see  how  in  this  respect  the  first  loses  and  the  last 
gains.  The  element  of  the  shaded  foreground  in 
the  first  was  cut  out  in  preserving  a  better  place- 
ment for  the  subject. 

The  photographer  comes  upon  a  group  of  cows. 
"  Trees,  cattle,  light  and  shade — a  picture 
surely  ! "  Fearful  of  disturbing  the  cows  he  ex- 
poses at  a  distance,  then  stalks  them,  trying 
again  with  a  different  point  of  sight  and,  having 
joined  them  and  waited  for  their  confidence, 
makes  the  third  attempt.  On  developing,  the 
first  one  reveals  the  string-like  line  of  road  cut- 
ting the  picture  from  end  to  end,  the  cattle  as 
isolated  spots,  the  tree  dividing  the  sky  space 
into  almost  equal  parts.  In  the  second,  the 
lower  branch  of  tree  blocks  the  sky  and  on  the 
other  side  there  is  a  natural  window,  opening 
an  exit  into  the  distance.  This  is  desirable  but 
unfortunately  the  bending  roadway  on  the  right 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

accomplishes  the  same  purpose  and  so  two  exits 
are  offered,  always  objectionable.  With  this  out, 
the  value  of  the  rock  and  foreground  cow  is  also 
better  appreciated  as  leading  spots  taking  us  to 
the  natural  focus,  the  white  cow  lying  close  to 
the  tree.  The  rock  in  left  corner  having  no  in- 
fluence in  a  leading  line  should  be  suppressed. 
The  cattle  now  swing  into  the  picture  from  both 
sides  and  one  of  them  opposes  the  horizontal  of 
her  back  to  the  vertical  of  the  tree,  thus  easing 
the  force  of  its  descent. 

In  the  last  there  is  much  more  concentration. 
The  road  does  not  parallel  the  bottom  and  though 
passing  out  of  the  picture  the  vision  is  brought 
back  again  along  the  distant  line  of  trees.  The 
objection  to  this  arrangement  lies  in  the  equal 
division  of  the  subject  by  the  tree-trunk.  The 
white  cow  focalizes  the  vision  but  the  sky  and 
the  more  graceful  branches  soon  capture  it.  The 
cow  in  the  right  foreground  is  only  valuable  as 
an  oppositional  measure  to  the  line  of  cows 
stretching  across  the  picture  which  it  helps  to 
divert,  otherwise  she  carries  too  much  attraction 
to  the  side. 

The  best  arrangement  for  the  subject  would 
have  been  the  tree  one-third  from  the  left  side,  the 
white  cow  touching  its  line,  one  or  two  of  those 
lying  on  the  ground  working  toward  the  fore- 
ground in  a  zigzag,  little  or  no  diversion  from 
the  distance  on  the  left  of  tree.  The  swing 
of  the  picture  would  then  have  been  from  the 
foreground  to  the  focus,  the  white  cow  and  tree, 
thence  to  the  group  under  the  tree  and  out 
[72] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

through  the  sky.  This  would  have  divided  the 
picture-plane  into  thirds  instead  of  halves,  bring- 
ing it  into  the  form  elsewhere  recommended 
as  being  the  arrangement  of  Claude's  best 
pictures. 


[73] 


CHAPTER  V 

ENTRANCE  AND  EXIT 

Getting  Into  the  Picture, 

In  coming  at  a  picture,  the  first  question  is, 
how  to  get  into  it. 

One  reason  why  so  many  pictures  are  passed 
by  in  exhibitions  is  that  the  public  lacks  an  invi- 
tation to  enter,  while  others,  by  contrast,  greet 
you  a  long  way  off.  One  feels  obliged  to  stop 
and  acknowledge  their  cordiality.  Some  admit 
you  to  their  confidence  through  the  side  door, 
and  into  others  you  have  to  climb  over  a  barrier, 
or  a  lot  of  useless  detail  which,  ofttimes  conceals 
admirable  quality. 

The  open  door  is  a  surer  invitation  than  the 
diffident  latch-string.  Mystery,  subtlety  and 
evasive  charm  are  all  in  place  in  a  work  of  art, 
but  should  not  stand  on  the  threshold.  One 
spot  or  circumference  there  should  be  to- 
ward which,  through  the  suppression  of  other 
parts,  the  eye  is  led  at  once.  When  there,  even 
though  the  vision  has  passed  miles  into  the  can- 
vas, one  is  at  the  starting-point  only,  from  which 
to  proceed  in  viewing  the  picture.  Any  element 
which  proves  too  attractive  along  this  avenue  of 
entrance  is  confusing  to  the  sight  and  weakening 
to  the  impression. 

[74] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

One  item  after  another,  in  sequence,  the  visitor 
should  then  be  led  to,  and,  having  made  the 
circuit  and  paid  his  respects  to  the  company  in 
the  order  of  importance  with  that  special  care 
which  prevails  at  a  Chinese  court  function,  the 
visitor  should  be  shown  the  exit.  Getting  out  of 
a  picture  is  almost  as  important  as  getting  into 
it,  but  of  this  later. 

If  the  artist,  in  the  composition  of  his  picture, 
cannot  so  arrange  a  reception  for  his  guests,  he  is 
not  a  successful  host. 

This  disposal  of  the  subject  matter  into  which 
principality  enters  so  acutely  is  more  patent  in 
the  elaborate  figure  subject  than  in  any  other. 
With  the  distinction  between  an  assemblage  of, 
and  a  crowd  of  figures,  made  plain. 

The  writer  once  called,  in  company  with  a 
friend  of  the  painter,  upon  the  late  Edmond 
Yon,  the  French  landscapist.  We  found  him  in 
his  atelier,  and  saw  his  completed  picture,  about 
to  be  sent  to  the  Salon.  He  shortly  took  us  into 
an  adjacent  room,  where  hung  his  studies,  and 
thence  through  his  house  into  the  garden,  showed 
us  his  view  of  the  city,  commented  on  the  few 
fruit  trees,  the  flowers,  as  we  made  the  circuit  of 
the  little  plot,  and,  at  the  porte,  we  found  the 
servant  with  our  hats.  It  was  a  perfectly  logic- 
ally sequence.  We  had  come  to  the  end;  and 
how  complete ! 

"  He  always  does  it  so,"  said  the  friend.     We 

had  seen  the  man,  his  picture,  his  studies,  his 

house,  caught  the  inspiration  of  his  view,  had 

made  the  circuit  of  the  things  which  daily  sur- 

[75] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

rounded  him,  and  what  more — nothing;  except 
the  hats.  Bon  jour  ! 

The  new  picture,  like  any  new  acquaintance, 
we  are  tempted  to  sound  at  once,  in  a  single 
glance,  judging  of  the  great  and  apparent  planes 
of  character,  seeking  the  essential  affinity.  If  we 
pass  favorably,  our  enjoyment  begins  leisurely. 
The  picture  we  are  to  live  with  must  possess 
qualities  that  will  bear  close  scrutiny,  even  to 
analysis.  If  we  are  won,  there  is  a  satisfaction 
in  knowing  why. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  the  actual  picture 
space  in  nature  is  that  of  a  funnel,  its  size  varying 
according  to  the  extent  of  distance  represented. 
The  angle  of  sixty  degrees  which  the  eye  com- 
mands may  widen  into  miles.  The  matter  of 
equipoise  or  unity  therefore  applies  to  most  ex- 
tended areas  and  no  part  of  this  extent  may  es- 
cape from  the  calculation. 

The  objection  of  formal  balance  over  the 
centre  is  that  it  produces  a  straddle,  as,  in  hop- 
scotch one  lands  with  both  feet  on  either  side  of 
a  dividing  line.  In  all  pictures  of  deep  perspec- 
tive the  best  mode  of  entrance  is  to  skate  in, 
with  a  series  of  zigzags,  made  easy  through  the 
habit  of  the  eye  to  follow  lines,  especially  long 
and  receding  ones.  It  is  the  long  lines  we  seize 
upon  in  pinning  the  action  of  a  figure,  and  the 
long  lines  which  stretch  toward  us  are  those 
which  help  most  to  get  us  into  a  picture. 

The  law  here  is  that  of  perspective  recession, 
and,  it  being  the  easiest  of  comprehension  and 
the  most  effective  in  result,  is  used  extensively 
[76] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

by  the  scene-painter  for  his  drop-curtain  and  by 
the  landscapist,  whose  subject  proper  lies  often 
in  the  middle  distance — toward  which  he  would 
make  the  eye  travel. 

When  the  opportunity  of  line  is  wanting  an 
arrangement  of  receding  spots,  or  accents  is  an 
equivalent. 

The  same  applies,  though  in  less  apparent  force, 
to  the  portrait  foreground  figure  subject. 

Where  the  subject  lies  directly  in  the  fore- 
ground, the  eye  will  find  it  at  once,  but  the  care 
of  the  artist  should  even  then  be  exercised  to 
avoid  lines  which,  though  they  could  not  block, 
might  at  least  irritate  one's  direct  vision  of  the 
subject. 

Conceive  if  you  can,  for  one  could  rarely  find 
such  an  example  in  pictorial  art,  of  the  forespace 
corrugated  with  lines  paralleling  the  bottom  line 
of  a  frame.  It  would  be  as  difficult  for  a 
bicyclist  to  propel  his  machine  across  a  plowed 
field  as  for  one  to  drive  his  eye  over  a  fore- 
ground thus  filled  with  distracting  lines  when 
the  goal  lay  far  beyond. 

Mr.  Schilling,  in  his  well-known  "Spring 
Ploughing,"  has  treated  this  problem  with  great 
discernment.  Instead  of  a  multiplicity  of  lines 
crossing  the  foreplane,  the  barest  suggestion  suf- 
fices to  designate  plowed  ground,  the  absence  of 
detail  allowing  greater  force  to  the  distant 
groups. 

In  the  Marine  subject,  especially  with  the  sea 
running  toward  us,  long  lines  are  created  across 
the  foreground,  but  with  respect  to  these,  as 
[77] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

may  be  noted  in  nature,  there  is  a  breaking  and 
interlacing  of  lines  in  the  wave  form  so  that  the 
succession  of  such  accents  may  lead  tangentially 
from  the  direction  of  the  wave.  A  succession  of 
horizontal  lines  is  however  the  character  of  the 
marine  subject.  When  the  eye  is  stopped  by 
these  it  has  found  the  subject.  Only  through 
the  sky  or  by  confronting  these  forms  at  an 
angle  can  the  force  of  the  horizontals  be  broken. 
Successful  marines  with  the  camera's  lens 
pointed  squarely  at  the  sea  have  been  produced, 
but  the  best  of  them  make  use  of  the  modifying 
lines  of  the  surf,  or  oppositional  lines  or  grada- 
tions in  the  sky. 

In  a  large  canvas  by  Alexander  Harrison,  its 
subject  a  group  of  bathers  on  the  shore,  one 
single  line,  the  farthest  reach  of  the  sea,  proves 
an  artist's  estimate  of  the  leading  line.  On  it  the 
complete  union  of  figures  and  ocean  depended. 
Its  presence  there  was  simple  nature,  its  strong 
enforcement  the  touch  of  art. 

The  eye's  willingness  to  follow  long  lines  may 
however  become  dangerous  in  leading  away 
from  the  subject  and  out  of  the  picture.  What 
student  cannot  show  studies  (done  in  his  earliest 
period)  of  an  interesting  fence  or  stone  wall, 
blocking  up  his  foreground  and  leading  the  eye 
out  of  the  picture  ?  It  is  possible  to  so  cleverly 
treat  a  stone  wall  that  it  would  serve  us  as  an 
elevation  from  which  to  get  a  good  jump  into 
the  picture.  Here  careful  painting  with  the  in- 
tent of  putting  the  foreground  out  of  focus, 
could  perhaps  land  the  eye  well  over  the  obstruc- 
[78] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

tion,  and  if  so,  our  consideration  of  the  picture 
begins  beyond  this  point.  If  the  observer  could 
take  such  a  barrier  as  easily  as  a  cross  country 
steeple-chaser  his  fences  and  stone  walls,  there 
would  be  no  objection,  but  when  the  artist 
forces  his  guest  to  climb ! — he  is  unreasonable. 
For  two  years  a  prominent  American  landscape 
painter  had  constantly  on  his  easel  a  very  power- 
ful composition.  The  foreplane  of  trees,  with 
branches  which  interlaced  at  the  top,  made,  with 
the  addition  of  a  stone  wall  below,  an  encase- 
ment for  the  picture  proper,  which  lay  beyond. 
The  lower  line,  i.  e.,  the  stone  wall,  was  in 
constant  process  of  change,  obliterated  by  shadow 
or  despoiled  by  natural  dilapidation,  sometimes 
vine-grown.  In  its  several  stages  it  showed 
always  the  most  critical  weighing  of  the  part, 
and  a  consummate  dodging  of  the  difficulties. 

When  finally  exhibited,  however,  the  wall  had 
given  way  to  a  simple  shadow  and  a  pool  of 
water.  The  attempt  to  carry  the  eye  over  a 
cross-line  in  the  foreground  had  been  a  long  and 
conclusive  one,  and  its  final  abandonment  an  ad- 
monition on  this  point.  A  barrier  across  the 
middle  distance  is  almost  as  objectionable.  In 
the  subject  of  a  river  embankment  the  eye  comes 
abruptly  against  its  upper  line,  which  is  an 
accented  one,  and  from  this  dives  off  into  the 
fathomless  space  of  the  sky,  no  intermediate  ob- 
ject giving  a  hint  of  anything  existing  between 
that  and  the  horizon. 

In  order  to  use  such  a  subject  it  would  be 
necessary  to  oppose  the  horizontal  of  the  bank 
[79] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

by  an  item  that  would  overlap  and  extend  above 
it,  as  a  hay  wagon  with  a  figure  on  top  of  it  or 
the  sail  of  a  boat,  and  if  possible  to  continue  this 
transitional  feeling  in  the  sky  by  such  cloud 
forms  as  would  carry  the  eye  up.  Attraction  in 
the  sky  would  create  a  depth  for  penetration 
which  the  embankment  blocked. 

The  "Path  of  the  Surf"  is  a  splendid  leading 
line  ending  most  beautifully  in  a  curve. 

Many  readers  will  recall  the  notable  picture 
by  Mr.  Picknell,  now  deceased,  of  a  white  road 
in  Picardie.  Here  all  the  lines  converged  at  the 
horizon.  The  perspective  was  so  true  as  to 
become  fascinating,  a  problem  of  very  ordinary 
deception.  More  subtle  is  Turner's  "Approach 
to  Venice,"  see  Fundamental  Forms,  in  which  the 
lines  are  substituted  by  spots — the  gondolas — 
which,  in  like  manner,  bear  us  to  the  subject. 
The  graceful  arch  of  the  sky  also  presses  us  to- 
ward the  subject. 

One  may  readily  use  the  placement  of  the 
spots  and  substitute  cattle  instead  of  gondolas 
and  woods  for  the  spired  city;  or  groups  of 
figures,  sheep,  rocks,  etc.  The  composition  is 
fundamental,  and  will  accommodate  many  sub- 
jects. 

GETTING  OUT  OF  THE  PICTURE. 
This   is  important  because  necessary.     It  is 
much  better  to  pass  out  than  to  back  out.     Pic- 
tures show  many  awkward  methods  of  exit.     In 
some  there  are  too  many  chances  to  leave ;  in 
others  there  are  none.     Pictures  in  which  there 
[80] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

is  no  opportunity  for  visual  peripatetics  require  no 
such  provision.  In  the  portrait  we  confront  a 
personality,  and  some  painters  plainly  tell  us  by 
the  blank  space  of  the  background  that  there 
shall  be  but  one  idea  to  the  observer's  mind.  In 
this  event  he  has  but  to  bow  and  withdraw.  But 
suppose  the  curtain  of  the  background  be  drawn 
and  a  glimpse  is  disclosed  of  a  landscape  beyond. 
This  bit  of  attraction  leads  us  toward  it.  Instead 
therefore  of  breaking  off  from  the  subject  we  are 
led  away  from  it.  The  associations  with  the 
subject  are  ofttimes  interesting  and  appropriate 
and  the  great  majority  of  portraits  include  them. 
As  soon  therefore  as  we  begin  on  any  detail  in 
the  background  we  connect  the  portrait  with  the 
pictorial  and  the  sitter  becomes  one  of  a  number 
of  elements  in  the  scheme,  the  fulcrum  on  which 
they  balance.  A  patch  of  sky,  besides  creating 
an  expansion  in  the  diameter  of  the  picture  in- 
troduces color,  often  valuable,  as  noted  later. 

But  more  than  this,  these  sky  spots  in  a  dark 
background  are  air  holes.  They  enable  us  to 
breathe  in  the  picture,  giving  a  decided  sense 
of  atmosphere.  When  well  subordinated  they 
offer  no  distraction  to  the  subject,  but  give  to 
the  picture  a  depth.  When  no  other  object  is 
introduced,  a  gradation  is  serviceable.  Much 
may  be  thus  suggested  and  besides  the  depth  and 
air  properties  thus  introduced,  such  variety  of 
surface  excites  visual  motion.  The  eye  always 
follows  the  course  of  light  from  the  shadow. 
The  artist  may  make  use  of  this  fact  in  balancing 
the  picture  and  of  leading  the  eye  out  where  he 
[81] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

will.  As  it  is  desirable  to  enter  the  picture  in  a 
series  of  curves  or  zigzags,  in  like  manner  it 
should  be  left,  though  the  natural  finish  of  such 
a  series  should  connect  easily  with  its  start. 

The  eye  should  never  be  permitted  to  leave  the 
principal  figure  or  object  and  go  straight  back 
and  out  through  the  centre.  If  this'  is  allowed 
the  width  of  the  picture  is  slighted.  Therefore 
if  the  attraction  of  the  natural  exit  is  greater 
than  other  objects  they  exist  in  vain. 

The  exit  should  be  so  guarded  that  after  the 
visitor  has  moved  about  and  seen  everything,  he 
comes  upon  it  naturally.  For  example  conceive 
a  subject — figures  or  cattle — with  the  principal 
object  in  the  foreground.  From  this  the  other 
objects,  all  placed  on  the  left  side,  move  in  a 
half  circle  back  and  into  the  picture,  this  cir- 
cuit naturally  leading  to  an  opening  in  the  trees  or 
to  a  point  of  attraction  in  the  sky  or  to  a  glimpse 
of  distance.  If  this  be  not  of  less  interest  than 
any  object  of  the  progression,  the  unity  of  the  pic- 
ture disappears,  for  from  the  principal  object  in  the 
foreground  the  vision  goes  direct  to  the  distance. 

Providing  two  or  more  exits  is  a  common  error 
of  bad  composition.  This  is  the  main  objection 
to  the  form  of  balance  on  the  centre,  which  pro- 
duces two  spaces  of  equal  importance  on  either  side. 

In  the  drawing  of  the  "  Shepherdess  "  by  Millet 
the  attraction  of  two  alleys  which  the  eye  might 
take  is  largely  regulated  by  the  subordination  of 
one  of  them  by  proportional  size  and  a  lowering 
of  the  tone  of  the  sky.  At  best,  however,  it  is  a 
case  of  divided  interest,  though  the  deepest  dark 
[82] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

against  the  highest  light  helps  to  control  the  sit- 
uation. If  for  the  balance  of  the  pines  in  the 
snow  scene  a  small  tree  on  the  right  were  added, 
the  objection  would  then  be  that  from  the  central 
point  of  attraction,  the  pines,  the  vision  would 
go  in  two  directions,  toward  the  houses  and  the 
tree.  The  visual  lines  connecting  these  two 
points  would  cross  the  first  or  principal  object 
instead  of  leading  from  this  to  one  and  thence  to 
the  other  as  would  not  be  the  case  if  the  added 
tree  appeared  in  the  extreme  distance  on  the  right. 
Under  this  arrangement  there  would  be  progres- 
sion into  the  picture.  A  still  better  arrangement 
would  have  been  direct  movement  from  the  mass 
of  trees  to  the  houses  placed  on  the  right,  with 
the  space  now  occupied  by  them  left  vacant. 


4 

DON'TS. 

1.  Parallel  lines  without  vertical  opposition.  2.  Entrance 
stopped  by  an  opposing  plane.  3.  Perspective  occurring  in  a 
vertical.  4.  Two  masses  of  the  same  size  in  different  plane. 

[83] 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  CIRCULAE  OBSERVATION  OF  PICTURES 

THE  entrance  into  a  picture  and  obstacles 
thereto,  as  applied  to  landscape,  has  already  been 
considered,  from  which  it  is  evident  that  wisdom 
renders  this  as  easy  as  possible  for  the  vision,  not 
only  negatively,  but  through  positive  means  as 
well.  An  obstruction  through  which  penetration 
is  impossible,  clogging  the  picture  in  the  fore- 
ground or  middle  distance  when  such  an  object 
is  not  the  subject,  or  when  the  interest  lies  be- 
yond, produces  a  redundant  composition. 

When  in  nature  we  observe  a  scene  that  natur- 
ally fits  a  frame  and  we  find  ourselves  gazing 
first  at  one  object  and  then  at  another  and  re- 
turning again  to  the  first,  we  may  be  sure  it  will 
make  a  picture. 

But  when  we  are  tempted  to  turn,  in  the  in- 
spection of  the  whole  horizon  (though  this  be 
circular  observation),  it  proves  we  have  not  found 
a  picture.  Our  picture,  on  canvas,  must  fit  an 
arc  of  sixty  degrees.  The  other  thing  is  a  pano- 
rama. The  principle  is  contained  in  the  illustra- 
tion of  the  athletes.  This  picture  has  the  fasci- 
nation of  a  continuous  performance  and  so  in 
degree  should  every  picture  have. 

In  the  foreground,  or  figure  subject  the  same 
principles  apply.  The  main  point  is  to  capture 
[84] 


THE  PATH  OF  THE  SURF —  Photo. 

Triangles  Occurring  on  the  Leading  Line 


THE  SHEPHERDESS — Millet 

Composition  Exhibiting  a  Double  Exit 


THE  SLAYING  OF  THE  UNPROPITIOUS  MESSENGERS 

Triangular  Composition — Circular  Observation 


CIRCULAR  OBSERVATION — THE  PRINCIPLE 


the  observer's  interest  with  the  theme,  which  to 
his  mental  processes  shall  unfold  according  to  the 
artisfo  plan.  "With  twenty  objects  to  present, 
which  one  on  the  chessboard  of  your  picture 
shall  tak«  precedence  and  which  shall  stand  next 
in  importance,  and  which  shall  have  a  limited  in- 
fluence, and  which,  like  the  pawns,  shall  serve  as 
little  more  than  the  added  thoughts  in  the 
game? 

In  "  The  Slaying  of  the  Unpropitious  Messen- 
gers," a  picture  of  great  power  and  truly  sublime 
in  the  simplicity  of  its  dramatic  expression,  the 
vision  falls  without  hesitation  on  the  figure  of 
Pharaoh,  easily  passing  over  the  three  pros- 
trate forms  in  the  immediate  foreground.  These 
might  have  diverted  the  attention  and  weakened 
the  subject  had  not  they  been  skillfully  played 
for  second  place.  Their  backs  have  been  turned, 
their  faces  covered,  and,  though  three  to  one,  the 
single  figure  reigns  supreme.  Note  how  they  are 
made  to  guide  the  eye  toward  him  and  into  the 
picture  and  discover  in  the  other  lines  of  the 
picture  an  intention  toward  the  same  end,  the 
staircase,  the  river,  the  mountain,  the  angular 
contour  of  the  portico  behind  tying  with  the 
nearer  roof  projection  and  making  a  broken 
stairway  from  the  left-hand  upper  corner.  See, 
again,  the  lines  of  the  canopy  composing  a 
special  frame  for  the  master  figure. 

Suppose  a  reconstruction  of  this  composition. 
Behold  the  slain  messengers  shaken  into  less  re- 
cumbent and  more  tragic  attitudes,  arranged 
along  the  foreplane  of  the  picture ;  let  all  the 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

leading  lines  be  reversed ;  make  them  antagonis- 
tic to  the  principles  upon  which  the  picture  was 
constructed.  The  subject  indeed  will  have  been 
preserved  and  the  story  illustrated,  but  the  fol- 
lowing points  will  be  lost  and  nothing  gained  : 
A  central  dominating  point  of  interest ;  the  dis- 
parity between  monarch  and  slave ;  the  senti- 
ment of  repose  and  quietude  suggested  by  a 
starlit  night  and  the  coordination  of  recumbent 
lines ;  the  pathos  of  the  lonely  vigil,  with  the 
gaze  of  the  single  figure  strained  and  fixed  upon 
the  distant  horizon  whence  he  may  expect  the 
remnants  of  his  shattered  army. 

The  artist's  first  conception  of  this  subject  was 
doubtless  that  of  a  pyramid ;  the  head  of  Pha- 
raoh is  the  apex  and  the  slaves  the  base  and  side 
lines.  The  other  lines  were  arranged  in  part  to 
draw  away  from  this  apparent  and  very  com- 
mon form  of  composition.  One  has  but  to  look 
through  a  list  of  notable  pictures  to  find  evi- 
dence of  the  very  frequent  use  of  these  concen- 
tric lines  drawing  the  vision  from  the  lower 
corners  of  the  picture  to  an  apex  of  the  pyramid. 

Now,  herein  lies  the  analogy  between  the 
simplest  form  of  landscape  construction  and  the 
foreground  or  figure  subject.  The  framework  of 
both  is  the  pyramid,  or  what  is  termed  the  struc- 
ture of  physical  stability.  In  the  landscape  the 
pyramid  lies  on  its  side,  the  apex  receding.  It 
is  the  custom  of  some  figure  painters  to  construct 
entirely  in  pyramids,  the  smaller  items  of  the 
picture  resolving  themselves  into  minor  pyra- 
mids. In  the  single  figure  picture — the  portrait, 
[88] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

standing  or  sitting — the  pyramidal  form  annihi- 
lates the  spaces  on  either  side  of  the  figure, 
which,  paralleling  both  the  sides  and  the  frame, 
would  leave  long  quadrilaterals  in  place  of  dimin- 
ishing segments. 

"Whether  the  pyramid  is  in  perspective  or  one 
described  on  the  foreplane  of  a  picture,  the  prin- 
ciple is,  leading  lines  should  carry  the  eye  into 
the  picture  or  toward  the  subject,  a  point  touched 
upon  in  the  preceding  chapter. 

"When  reverie  begins  in  a  picture,  one's  vision 
involuntarily  makes  a  circuit  of  the  items  pre- 
sented, starting  at  the  most  interesting  and  wid- 
ening in  its  review  toward  the  circumference,  as 
ring  follows  ring  when  a  stone  is  thrown  into 
water.  The  items  of  a  picture  may  arrange 
themselves  in  elliptical  form,  and  the  circuit  may 
bend  back  into  the  picture ;  or  the  form  may  be 
described  on  a  vertical  plane,  but  the  circuit  should 
be  there,  and  if  two  circuits  may  be  formed  the 
reverie  will  continue  that  much  longer.  The 
outer  circuit  finished,  the  vision  may  return  to 
the  centre  again.  If  in  a  landscape,  for  instance, 
the  interest  of  the  sky  dominates  that  of  the 
land,  the  vision  will  centre  there  and  come  out 
through  the  foreground,  and  it  is  important  that 
the  eye  have  such  a  course  marked  out  for  it, 
lest,  left  to  itself,  it  slip  away  through  the  sides, 
and  the  continuous  chain  of  reverie  be  broken. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  in  what  cycles  this 
great  wheel  of  circular  observation  revolves, 
directing  the  slow  revolution  of  our  gaze. 

In  one  picture  it  takes  us  from  the  corner  of 
[89] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

the  canvas  to  the  extreme  distance  and  thence  in 
a  circuit  back ;  in  another  it  moves  on  a  flat 
plane  like  an  ellipse  in  perspective.  Again,  first 
catching  the  eye  in  the  centre,  it  unfolds  like  a 
spiral. 

Much  of  a  painter's  attention  is  given  to  keep- 
ing his  edges  so  well  guarded  that  the  vision  in 
its  circuit  may  be  kept  within  the  canvas.  A 
large  proportion  of  the  changes  which  all  pic- 
tures pass  through  in  process  of  construction  is 
stimulated  by  this  consideration — how  to  stop  a 
wayward  eye  from  getting  too  near  the  edge 
and  escaping  from  the  picture.  When  every 
practical  device  has  been  tried,  as  a  last  resource 
the  centre  may  be  strengthened. 

In  order  to  settle  this  point  to  the  student's 
satisfaction  no  better  proof  could  be  suggested 
than  that  he  paint  in  black  and  white  a  simple 
landscape  motif,  with  no  attempt  to  create  a  focus, 
with  no  suppression  of  the  corners  and  no  circuit 
of  objects — a  landscape  in  which  ground  and  sky 
shall  equally  divide  the  interest.  He  may  pro- 
duce a  counterfeit  of  nature,  but  the  result  will 
rise  no  higher  in  the  scale  of  art  than  a  raw 
print  from  the  unqualified  negative  in  photog- 
raphy. The  art  begins  at  that  point,  and  con- 
sists in  the  production  of  unity,  in  the  establish- 
ment of  a  focus,  in  the  subordination  of  parts  by 
the  establishment  of  a  scale  of  relative  values, 
and  in  a  continuity  of  progression  from  one  part 
to  another.  The  procedure  will  be  somewhat  as 
follows :  Decision  as  to  whether  the  sky  or 
ground  shall  have  right  of  way ;  the  production 
[90] 


HUNTSMAN  AND  HOUNDS  —  H.  R.  Poore 

Triangle  with  Circular  Attraction 


PORTRAIT  OF  VAN  DER  GEEST  —  Rubens 
A  Sphere  within  a  Circle 


MARRIAGE  OF  BACCHUS  AND  ARIADNE — Tintoretto 

Circle  and  Radius 


ENDYMION —  Watts 

The  Circle— Vertical  Plane 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

of  a  centre  and  a  suppression  of  contiguous 
parts ;  the  feeling  after  lines  which  shall  convey 
the  eye  away  from  the  focal  centre  and  lead  it 
through  the  picture,  a  groping  for  an  item,  an 
accent,  or  something  that  shall  attract  the  eye 
away  from  the  corner  or  side  of  the  picture, 
where,  in  following  the  leading  lines,  it  may 
have  been  brought,  and  back  toward  the  focus 
again.  Here  then,  will  have  been  described  the 
circuit  of  which  we  speak.  In  the  suppression 
of  the  corners  the  same  instinct  for  the  elliptical 
line  has  been  followed,  for  the  composition,  by 
avoiding  them,  describes  itself  within  the  inner 
space. 

A  composition  in  an  oval  or  circle  is  much 
more  easily  realized  than  one  occupying  a  rec- 
tangular space,  as  the  vexing  item  of  the  corners 
has  been  disposed  of,  and  the  reason  why  these 
shapes  are  not  popularly  used  is  that  hanging 
committees  cannot  dispose  of  them  with  other 
pictures.  The  attempt  in  the  majority  of  com- 
positions, however,  is  to  fit  the  picture  proper  to 
the  fluent  lines  of  the  circle  or  oval.  In  "  Hunts- 
man and  Hounds,"  a  picture  which  is  introduced 
because  the  writer  is  able  to  speak  of  points  in  its 
construction  which  these  principles  necessitated, 
the  pyramidal  form  of  composition  is  apparent, 
and  around  this  a  circuit  is  described  by  the  hand, 
arm,  crop,  spot  on  dog's  side,  elbow  of  dog's 
foreleg,  line  of  light  on  the  other  dog's  breast, 
the  light  on  table  and  chair  in  background — all 
being  points  which  catch  the  eye  and  keep  it  mov- 
ing in  a  circuit.  In  the  first  arrangement  of  this 
[93] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

composition  a  buffet  occupied  the  space  given 
to  the  indication  of  chair  and  table.  This  did 
not  assist  sufficiently  in  diverting  the  awkward 
line  from  the  left  shoulder,  down  the  arm,  into 
the  dog's  head  and  out  of  the  picture.  Judg- 
ment here  lay  between  filling  the  space  with  the 
dog's  head,  which  would  have  separated  it  too 
far  from  the  man,  or  striving  to  divert  it  as 
noted.  The  space  between  this  line  and  the  side 
of  the  canvas  was  the  difficult  space  of  the  pic- 
ture. There  is  always  a  rebellious  member  in 
every  picture,  which  continues  unruly  through- 
out its  whole  construction,  and  this  one  did  not 
settle  itself  until  several  arrangements  of  the 
part  were  tried.  In  order  to  divert  the  precipi- 
tate line  a  persistence  of  horizontals  was  neces- 
sary— the  table,  the  chair  and  the  shadow  on  the 
floor.  The  shadows  and  the  picture  on  the  wall 
block  the  top  and  sides,  and  the  shadow  from 
the  fender  indicated  along  the  lower  edge  com- 
plete the  circuit  and  weaken  the  succession  of 
verticals  in  the  legs  of  dog  and  man. 

CIRCULAR  COMPOSITION. 

Circular  observation  in  pictures  whose  struc- 
ture was  apparently  not  circular  leads  to  the 
consideration  of  circular  composition,  or  that 
class  of  pictures  where  the  evident  intention  is 
to  compose  under  the  influence  of  circular  ob- 
servation— where  the  circle  expresses  the  first 
thought  in  the  composition. 

This  introduces  us  to  the  widest  reaches  of 
pictorial  art,  for  in  this  category  lie  the  greatest 
[94] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

of  the  world's  pictures.  Slight  analysis  is  neces- 
sary to  discover  this  arrangement  in  the  majority 
of  the  strongest  compositions  which  we  encoun- 
ter. In  the  Metropolitan  and  Lenox  Galleries  of 
New  York,  the  following  pictures  may  be  looked 
at  for  this  form  of  structure,  showing  the  circle 
either  in  the  vertical  plane  or  in  perspective. 
Auguste  Bonheur's  large  cattle-piece,  Inness' 
"Autumn  Oaks,"  Corot's  "Ville  d'Avray," 
Knaus'  "Madonna,"  Cabanel's  kneeling  female 
figure,  Koybet's  "  Card  Players,"  "  Jean  d'Arc," 
by  Bastian  Lepage;  "The  Baloon,"  by  Julian 
Dupre;  Wylie's  "Death  of  the  Yendean  Chief," 
Leutze's  "Crossing  of  the  Delaware,"  Meisson- 
ier's  "  1807,"  the  three  pictures  of  Turner,  "  Mil 
ton  Dictating  to  His  Daughters,"  by  Munkacsy, 
and  Knaus'  "  Row  at  a  Peasants'  Ball."  This 
list  contains  the  most  important  works  of  these 
collections,  and  others  might  easily  be  added. 

The  head  by  Rubens  carries  with  it  the  re- 
pose which  belongs  to  the  completeness  of  the 
circle. 

Like  Saturn  and  his  ring,  this  sphere  within 
the  circle  is  typical  of  harmony  and  unity,  and 
for  this  reason,  though  detached  as  we  know  it 
to  be,  it  has  a  greater  completeness  than  though 
joined  to  a  body.  It  is  on  this  general  principle 
that  all  circular  compositions  are  based — absorp- 
tion of  the  attention  within  the  circuit. 

In   Tintoretto's    "Marriage   of   Bacchus  and 

Ariadne,"  the  floating  figure  offers  us  a  shock 

not  quite  relieved  when  we  recall  the  epoch  of 

its  production  or  concede  the  customary  license 

[95] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

to  mythology.  At  a  period  in  art  when  angels 
were  employed  through  a  composition  as  a  stage 
manager  would  scatter  supernumeraries — to  fill 
gaps  or  create  masses — in  any  posture  which  the 
conditions  of  the  picture  demanded,  it  is  not 
strange  that  the  artist  conceived  this  figure  sus- 
pended from  above  in  an  arc  of  a  circle,  if  in 
these  lines  it  served  his  purpose.  In  this  shape 
it  completes  a  circuit  in  the  figures,  fills  the  space 
which  would  otherwise  open  a  wide  escape  for 
the  vision,  and,  by  the  union  of  the  three  heads, 
joins  the  figures  in  the  centre  of  the  canvas,  com- 
pleting, with  the  legs  of  Ariadne,  five  radial 
lines  from  this  focus. 

To  the  mind  of  a  sixteenth  century  artist, 
these  reasons  were  more  convincing  than  the  ob- 
jection to  painting  a  hundred  and  forty  pounds 
of  recumbent  flesh  and  blood,  with  the  support 
unseen.  To  the  modern  artist  such  a  conception 
would  be  well-nigh  impossible,  though  Mr.  Watts 
gives  us  much  the  same  action.  Here,  however, 
the  movement  of  the  draperies  supplies  motion 
to  the  figure  of  Selene,  and  as  a  momentary 
action  we  know  it  to  be  possible.  Were  the  in- 
terpretation of  motion  by  hair  and  drapery  im- 
possible, and  the  impression,  as  in  the  Tintoretto, 
that  of  the  suspended  nude  model,  it  would  be 
safe  to  say  that  no  modern  painter  would  have 
employed  such  a  figure.  This  touch  of  realism, 
even  among  the  transcendental  painters,  denotes 
the  clean-cut  separations  between  the  modern  and 
mediaeval  art  sense. 

While  these  two  examples  show  the  "  vortex  " 
[96] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

arrangement  with  fluent  outlines,  the  portrait l  by 
Mr.  Whistler  expresses  the  same  principles  in  an 
outline  almost  rectangular,  but  is  to  be  placed  in 
the  same  category  as  the  other  two.  The  chair- 
back,  the  curtain,  the  framed  etching,  are  all 
formally  placed  with  respect  to  the  edges  of  the 
canvas,  and  as  we  observe  them  in  their  order, 
we  return  in  a  circuit  to  the  head. 

The  circle  in  composition  is  discoverable  in 
many  pictures  where  there  is  no  direct  evidence 
that  the  intention  was  to  compose  thus,  but 
wherein  analysis  on  these  lines  proves  that,  led 
by  unity,  balance  and  repose  (cardinal  beacon- 
lights  to  the  mind  artistic),  the  painter  naturally 
did  it. 

It  is  of  interest  to  review  this  picture  through 
its  simple  evolution.  The  head  conceived  in  its 
pose,  the  next  line  of  interest  is  one  from  neck  to 
feet.  This,  besides  being  the  edge  of  the  black 
mass  of  the  body,  is  the  more  apparent  against 
the  light  gray  wall  and  as  a  line  is  attractive  in 
forming  Hogarth's  "  Line  of  Beauty."  But  beau- 
tiful as  it  may  be,  it  commits  an  unlovely  act  in 
cutting  a  picture  diagonally,  almost  from  corner 
to  corner.  Interruption  of  this  is  effected  by 
the  hands  and  increased  by  the  handkerchief. 
Shortly  below  the  knee  this  is  diverted  by  the 
base-board  and  at  the  bottom  squarely  stopped 
by  the  solid  rectangle  of  the  stool. 

Suppose  that  the  picture  on  the  wall  were 
missing ;  not  only  would  the  long  parallelogram 

1  Portrait  of  the  artist's  mother;  see  Fundamental  forms  of 
Chiaroscuro. 

[97] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

of  the  curtain  be  unrelieved,  but  the  return  of 
the  line  to  the  subject  in  the  ensemble  of  the 
picture  would  be  broken.  This,  therefore,  be- 
comes the  keystone  of  the  composition.  Other 
considerations  besides  its  diversion  from  the  cur- 
tain are,  its  curtailing  of  wall  space,  and,  by  its 
close  placement  to  the  curtain,  its  union  there- 
with as  a  balance  for  head  and  body — in  bulk  of 
light  and  dark  almost  identical  with  them, 
though  less  forcible  in  tonal  value. 

In  Wiertz's  group  about  the  body  of  Patroclus, 
though  its  contour  is  more  decidedly  circular 
(and  in  the  use  of  this  term  is  always  meant  a  line 
returning  on  itself),  it  fails  to  prompt  circular 
observation  to  the  same  extent  as  the  foregoing. 
The  eye  seesaws  back  and  forth  along  the  lines 
of  the  hammock  arrangement  of  light,  and  we 
are  conscious  of  the  extreme  balance  and  the 
careful  parcelling  out  of  the  units  of  force. 

With  all  its  evident  abandon  the  method  is 
painfully  present,  as  though  the  artist,  given  so 
much  Greek,  was  careful  to  add  the  same  amount 
of  Trojan.  The  level  and  plummet  setting  of  the 
group  exactly  within  the  sides  of  the  frame,  with 
no  suggestion  of  anything  else  existing  in  the 
world,  puts  it  into  the  class  of  formal  decoration, 
with  which  old  masterdom  abounds,  and  whence 
Wiertz  received  the  inspiration  for  most  of  his 
great  compositions. 

More  studiable  is  the  vortex  arrangement  of 

the    "  1807,"    with    its    magnificent    sweep    of 

cavalry,   where  the  tumultuous  energy  of  one 

part  is  augmented  by  fine  antithesis  of  repose  in 

[98] 


FIGHT  OVER  THE  BODY  OF  PATROCLUS —  Weirtz 


"  1807  " —  Meissonier 


VILLE  D'AVRAY  —  Corot 
THE  CIRCLE  IN  PERSPECTIVE 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

another.  Meissonier's  composition  was  expanded 
after  the  first  conception  was  nearly  completed. 
The  visitor  at  the  Metropolitan  Museum  may 
discover  a  horizontal  line  in  the  sky  and  a  ver- 
tical one  through  the  right  end.  This  slight 
ridge  in  the  canvas  shows  the  dimensions  of  the 
original  thought.  The  added  space  gave  larger 
opportunity  for  the  maneuvres  of  the  cuirassiers, 
and  set  Napoleon  to  the  left  of  the  exact  centre, 
where,  by  the  importance  of  his  figure,  he  more 
justly  serves  as  a  balance  for  the  heavier  side  of 
the  picture. 

As  in  the  Whistler  portrait,  the  keystone  was 
the  picture  on  the  wall,  in  this  composition  the 
group  of  mounted  guardsmen  on  the  left  gives  a 
circle's  unity  to  it,  helps  to  join  the  middle  dis- 
tance with  the  foreground,  becomes  the  third 
point  in  the  triangle,  which  gives  pyramidal  solid- 
ity to  the  composition  and  is  altogether  quite 
as  important  to  the  picture  as  the  right  wing  to 
an  army. 

Corot  was  wont  to  rely  on  Nature's  gift  as  she 
bestowed  it,  merely  allowing  his  sensitive  pic- 
ture-sense to  lead  him  where  pictures  were,  rather 
than  upon  any  artful  reconstruction  of  the  facts 
of  nature.  His  "  Little  Music,"  as  he  called  it, 
came  for  the  most  part  ready-made  for  him,  and 
he  simply  caught  it  and  wrote  the  score.  His 
art  is  less  impressive  for  composite  qual- 
ity, than,  for  example,  that  of  Mauve,  who,  in  the 
same  simple  range  of  subject,  sought  to  produce 
a  perfect  composition  every  time.  In  the  "  Lake 
at  Ville  d'Avray,"  we  have  one  of  Corot's  hap- 
[101] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

piest  subjects,  though  not  especially  characteris- 
tic. A  considerable  part  of  its  charm  lies  in  our 
opportunity  to  girdle  it  with  our  eye,  and  in  im- 
agination from  any  point  along  its  rim  to  view 
its  circumference  as  a  page  from  Nature,  com- 
plete. 

RECONSTRUCTION  FOR  CIRCULAR  OBSERVA- 
TION. 

Circular  composition  traceable  in  what  has 
been  first  conceived  as  pyramidal  or  rectangular, 
circular  composition  as  the  first  intention,  ex- 
pressed either  on  a  vertical  plane  or  in  perspec- 
tive, i.  e.,  circular  or  elliptical — and  composition 
made  circular  not  by  any  arrangement  of  parts, 
but  by  sacrifice  and  elimination  of  edges  and 
corners  are  the  three  forms  of  composition  which 
produce  circular  observation.  The  value  of  the 
circle  as  a  unifying  and  therefore  as  a  simplifying 
agent  cannot  be  overestimated,  especially  in  solv- 
ing the  problems  which  occur  in  composition 
where  the  circle  has  not  been  a  part  of  the  orig- 
inal scheme,  but  where,  when  applied,  it  seems  to 
bring  a  relief  to  confusion  and  disorder.  In 
many  cases  where  all  essential  items  are  happily 
arranged,  but,  as  a  whole,  refuse  to  compose,  the 
addition  of  some  element  or  the  readjustment  of 
a  part  which  will  produce  circular  observation, 
will  ofttimes  prove  the  solution  of  the  difficulty. 

Just  as  progression  in  a  straight  line  will  soon 
carry  us  out  of  the  picture,  will  circular  progres- 
sion keep  us  within  its  bounds.     If  then,  circular 
observation  affords  the  best  means  of  apprecia- 
[  I021 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

tion,  it  follows  that  circular  composition  is  the 
most  telling  form  of  presentation.  There  are 
many  subjects  which  naturally  do  not  fall  in 
these  lines,  but  which  may  ofttimes  be  reedited 
into  this  class.  This  reediting  means  composi- 
tion, and  two  examples  from  a  vast  number  are 
here  given  to  show  the  working  out  of  the  prob- 
lem. In  the  "  Hermit,"  by  Dow,  the  figure, 
book  and  hour  glass  compose  in  a  simple  left 
angle,  but  the  head  becomes  the  centre  to  a  cir- 
cular composition  by  the  presence  of  the  arch 
above  and  the  encircling  shadow  behind  and  be- 
neath the  arm.  The  corners  sacrifice  their  space 
to  strengthen  the  centre  and  the  vision  is  thus 
completely  funneled  upon  the  head.  In  striking 
contrast  to  this  is  the  composition  by  Boucher. 
Here  are  the  elements  for  two  or  three  pictures 
thrown  into  one,  and  in  some  respects  well  gov- 
erned as  a  single  composition.  Conceive,  how- 
ever, this  subject  bereft  of  the  darkened  corners, 
and  the  gradations  which  create  a  focus.  The 
figures  would  lie  upon  the  canvas  somewhat  in 
the  shape  of  a  letter  Z,  devoid  of  essential  coher- 
ence, with  the  details  in  the  foreground  hopelessly 
exposed  as  padding. 

Another  resort  in  order  to  secure  a  vortex,  or 
a  centre  bounded  by  a  circle,  is  to  surround  the 
head  or  figure  with  flying  drapery,  branch  forms, 
a  halo  or  any  linear  item  which  may  serve  both 
to  cut  out  and  to  hem  in.  It  accomplishes  some- 
thing of  what  the  hand  does  when  held  as  a  tun- 
nel before  the  eye.  Such  a  device  offers  ready 
aid  to  the  decorator  whose  figures  must  often 
[  103] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

receive  a  close  encasement,  fitted  as  they  are  into 
limited  spaces,  when  many  an  ungracious  line  in 
the  subject  is  made  to  disappear  through  the 
accommodation  of  pliant  drapery  or  of  varied 
tree  forms. 

In  this  class  of  compositions  especially  must  the 
background  be  made  the  complement  of  the  sub- 
ject. What  the  subject  fails  to  contain  may 
there  be  supplied,  a  sort  of  auxilliary  oppor- 
tunity. 

The  subject,  or  most  interesting  part,  should 
lie  either  within  the  circuit  or  be  the  most  im- 
portant item  of  the  circle.  It  should  never  be 
outside  the  circle.  If  it  appears  there,  the  eye  is 
thrown  off  of  the  elliptical  track.  If  the  reader 
will  compare  the  "Lake  at  Yille  d'Avray"  by 
Corot  with  his  "  Orpheus  and  Eurydice,"  the 
charm  in  the  former  may  reveal  itself  more  com- 
pletely through  the  jar  to  which  the  latter  sub- 
jects us.  The  figures  of  the  divine  lyrist  and  his 
bride  escaping  out  of  one  corner  of  the  canvas  do 
not  enter  at  all  into  the  linear  scheme  and  in 
their  anxiety  to  flee  Hades  they  are  about  to 
leave  art  and  the  spectator.  The  picture  is  a 
strange  counterpart  of  the  Apollo  and  Daphne 
of  Giorgione  at  Yenice,  and  since  it  is  known  of 
Corot  that  he  cared  infinitely  more  for  nature 
than  art,  it  is  fair  to  suppose  that  he  had  never 
seen  this  picture  either  in  the  original  or  repro- 
duction. Had  he  been  governed  by  the  feeling 
for  unity  which  his  works  usually  display  this 
pitfall  in  the  borders  of  plagiarism  would  not 
have  snared  him. 

[  I04] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

The  "  Holy  Family,"  by  Andrea  del  Sarto,  is  a 
composition  in  which  the  good  intention  of  the 
artist  to  make  a  complete  line  within  the  sides  of 
the  canvas  seems  a  matter  of  greater  concern 
than  other  principles  of  composition,  quite  as  im- 
portant. The  ellipse  of  the  three  figures  is  beau- 
tifully carried  out,  but  it  leaves  one  of  them,  the 
most  important,  in  the  least  important  place. 
The  whole  composition  sags  in  this  direction,  the 
weight  of  Joseph,  in  half  shadow,  being  insuf- 
ficient to  recover  the  balance.  With  these  figures 
all  well  drawn  and  especially  adapted  in  their 
contours  to  the  organic  lines  of  composition, 
several  rearrangements  might  be  made,  as  well 
as  other  arrangements,  with  any  one  of  the  four 
figures  omitted,  its  place  used  for  reserved  space. 
No  better  practice  in  linear  and  mass  composi- 
tion could  be  suggested  than  slight  modification 
of  parts  by  raising  or  lowering  or  spacing  or  by 
the  reconstruction  of  the  background,  of  well 
known  pictures  in  which  the  composition  is  con- 
fused. 

A  common  mistake  in  the  use  of  the  circular 
form  is  that  of  making  it  too  apparent.  A  list 
of  pictures  might  be  made  wherein  the  formal 
lines  of  construction  are  very  much  in  evidence. 
Such  could  be  well  headed  by  Kaphael's  "  Death 
of  Ananias,"  where  the  formality  of  the  arrange- 
ment is  on  a  par  with  the  strain  and  effort  ex- 
pressed in  every  one  of  its  figures.  The  curved 
peristyle  of  kneeling  disciples  offers  a  temptation 
to  push  the  end  man  and  await  the  result  on  the 
others,  more  to  witness  a  rearrangement  than 
[105] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

create  any  further  commotion  in  the  infant 
church.  The  fact  that  this  work  is  decorative 
rather  than  pictorial  in  intention  cannot  relievo 
the  representation  of  an  actual  occurrence  of  the 
charge  of  being  struck  off  in  an  oft-used  and  well 
worn  mold.  Compare  with  this  Rembrandt's  fa- 
mous circular  composition,  "  Christ  Healing  the 
Sick,"  wherein  though  the  weight  on  either  side 
of  Christ  is  about  evenly  divided,  the  formality 
of  placement  has  been  most  carefully  avoided, 
and  where  the  impression  is  merely  that  the 
Healer  is  the  centre  of  a  body  of  people  who  sur- 
round him. 

With  the  great  principle  of  linear  composition 
in  mind,  namely,  that  the  vision  travels  in  the 
path  of  least  resistance,  no  rule  need  be  formu- 
lated and  no  further  examples  produced  to  prove 
that  the  various  items  of  a  composition  are  taken 
at  their  required  value  to  the  extent  to  which  they 
adhere  to  and  partake  of  the  established  plan  of 
observation. 


[106] 


CHAPTER  VH 

ANGULAR  COMPOSITION,    THE    LINE   OF  BEAUTY 
AND  THE    RECTANGLE 

The  Triangle. 

IN  angular  composition  the  return  of  the 
eye  over  its  course,  as  in  circular  observation,  is 
practically  eliminated.  While  the  circle  and  el- 
lipse offer  a  succession  of  items  and  events,  one 
the  sequence  of  the  other,  so  that  the  vision 
concludes  like  a  boomerang,  angular  composition 
sends  a  shaft  direct,  with  no  return. 

Here  the  pleasure  of  reverie  through  an  end- 
less chain  must  be  exchanged  for  the  stimulation 
of  a  shock,  for  force  by  concentration,  for  rug- 
gedness  at  the  expense  of  elegance. 

Pure  triangular  composition  is  a  form  rarely 
seen,  as  in  most  cases  where  the  lines  of  the  tri- 
angle are  detected  as  the  first  conception,  other 
lines  or  points  have  been  added  to  destroy  or 
modify  them. 

Jacque  has  been  successful  in  the  man- 
agement of  what  is  considered  a  difficult 
form.  In  the  herder  with  cattle  although  we 
feel  in  the  next  moment  the  subject  will  have 
passed,  while  it  lasts  the  artist  has  kept  the  eye 
upon  it  by  the  use  of  dark  figures  at  either  end 
and  a  concentration  of  light  in  the  centre ;  also 
by  the  presence  of  the  tree  in  the  distance  which 
turns  the  eye  into  the  picture  as  it  leaves  the 
cow  on  the  right. 

[107] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

Another  example  more  complete  as  a  composi- 
tion is  his  famous  "  Shepherd  and  Sheep," l  in 
which  the  angle  is  formed  by  the  dark  dog  at  the 
extreme  right,  the  lines  expanding  through  the 
figure  of  the  shepherd  and  thence  above  into  a 
group  of  trees  and  below  along  the  edge  of  the 
flock.  In  this  example  the  base  line  runs  into 
the  picture  by  perspective  and  thence  back  into 
the  picture  to  the  trees. 


i  7 


THE  HERDER — JACQUE. 

The  "Departure  for  the  Chase,"  by  Cuyp, 
shows  an  unsuccessful  use  of  this  shape. 

In  "  The  Path  of  the  Surf,"  the  main  form— 
the  surf — is  a  triangle  and  the  two  supporting 
spaces  triangles.  Such  a  construction  is  par- 
ticularly stable,  as  these  focalize  on  the  line  of  in- 
terest. Some  artists  construct  most  of  their 
pictures  in  a  series  of  related  triangles.  The 

1  See  Fundamental  Forms  of  Construction. 
[108] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

writer  calling  upon  Henry  Bacon  found  him 
painting  a  group  of  transatlantic  travellers  on  a 
steamer's  deck.  He  pointed  out  a  scheme  of  tri- 
angles which  together  formed  one  great  tri- 
angle, but  said  he  was  looking  for  the  last  point 
for  the  base  of  this.  A  monthly  magazine  was 
suggested,  which,  laid  open  on  its  face,  proved  le 
dernier  clou. 

THE  VERTICAL  LINE  IN  ANGULAR  COMPOSI- 
TION. 

WHEN  Giotto  was  asked  for  his  conception 
of  a  perfect  building,  he  produced  a  circle. 
When  Michael  Angelo  was  appealed  to,  he  desig- 
nated the  cross.  On  both  bases  may  good  archi- 
tecture and  good  pictures  be  founded.  If  the 
extremities  of  the  Greek  cross  be  connected  by 
arcs,  a  circle  will  result,  and  if  the  Latin  cross  be 
so  bounded  we  will  have  a  kite-shape,  or  ellipse. 
The  two  designs  are,  therefore,  not  as  dissimilar 
as  may  at  first  be  supposed.  In  both,  from  the 
pictorial  standpoint,  they  are  the  framework  by 
means  of  which  the  same  given  space  may  be 
filled. 

The  simple  vertical  line  is  monotonous.  Its 
bisection  produces  balance ;  a  cross  is  the  result. 
Again,  two  crosses  placed  together,  the  arms 
touching,  and  three  crosses  in  like  position,  will 
represent  the  picture  plan  of  the  grouping  so 
frequently  used  by  Raphael — a  central  figure 
balanced  by  one  on  either  side,  the  horizon  join- 
ing them,  and  behind  this  the  balance  repeated 
in  trees  and  other  figures. 

[  109] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

Pictorially,  the  vertical  line  is  much  more  im- 
portant than  any  other.  It  is  the  direction  of 
gravity ;  it  represents  man  upright,  in  distinc- 
tion from  the  brutes ;  it  also  can  stand  alone,  all 
other  lines  demanding  supports.  Of  two  equally 
forcible  lines,  this  would  first  be  seen.  In  com- 
position, therefore,  it  has  the  right  of  way. 

Let  us  start  with  a  subject  represented  by 
a  vertical  line — a  tree  or  figure.  The  directness, 
rigidity,  isolation  and  unqualified  force  of  such  a 
line  demands  balance;  otherwise,  extension  is 
the  sole  idea.  With  the  thought  of  a  frame 
or  sides  of  the  picture  comes  the  necessary  hori- 
zontal line,  bisecting  the  vertical.  Length  and 
breadth  have  then  been  represented,  something 
in  two  dimensions  started,  and  the  four  sides  of 
a  frame  necessitated. 

In  sculpture  this  consideration  weighs  nothing. 
A  statue  is  framed  by  all  outdoors.  The  verti- 
cal of  a  single  figure  pierces  the  unlimited  sky, 
and  the  only  consideration  to  the  artist  is  that 
the  mass  looks  well  from  any  point  of  view. 
The  group  by  Carpeaux  is  a  sample  of  plastic  art 
unusually  picturesque,  and  would  easily  fit  a 
frame,  because  in  it  the  vertical  figure  is  sup- 
ported by  horizontals,  both  of  lines  and  in  the 
idea  of  lateral  movement.  It  is,  therefore,  solid 
and  complete  and  sets  forth  in  its  structure  the 
thought  of  Alexander  the  Great  when  he  had  his 
artists  represent,  in  a  design  painted  upon  his 
equipments,  lasting  power  as  a  sword  within 
a  circuit. 

This  piece  of  sculpture  is  a  cross  within  a 

[HO] 


ALONE —  Josef  Israels 
Constructive  Synthesis  Upon  the  Vertical 


THE  DANCE — Carpeaux 
The  Cross  Within  a  Circle 


N- 
S   J2 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

cylinder,  but  on  a  flat  plane  the  principle  is  just 
as  forcible,  as  will  further  be  shown  in  the  pic- 
ture by  Israels. 

"The  Crucifixion,"  by  Morot,  is  more  statu- 
esque than  picturesque,  and  would  gain  in  effect 
if  seen  unembarrassed  by  the  limitations  of  a 
frame.  Its  strength  in  one  situation  is  its  weak- 
ness in  another.  The  presence  of  the  frame 
creates  three  spaces,  one  above  the  horizontal 
and  one  on  either  side  of  the  vertical,  and  these 
are  empty.  Therefore,  although  the  single 
thought  of  the  dying  Saviour  is  sufficiently  great 
to  bear — nay,  even,  perhaps,  demand — isolation, 
it  unites  itself  with  nothing  else  within  our  com- 
pass of  vision,  and,  therefore,  cannot  be  said 
to  compose  with  its  frame.  The  reader  is  now 
in  a  position  to  appreciate  the  simple  mechanics 
which  underlie  the  composition  by  Israels.  In 
"  Alone  "  the  artist  starts  with  the  figure  of  the 
man — a  vertical.  The  next  thought  closely 
allied  is  the  woman.  The  two  complete  a  cross. 
From  either  end  two  more  verticals  are  erected. 
On  the  left  another  horizontal  joins  the  vertical 
in  the  top  of  the  table  and  unites  it  with  another 
vertical,  the  shutter,  and  so  on  to  the  edge  of  the 
picture.  On  the  other  side  the  basket  top  leads 
off  from  the  vertical  and  thence  down  the  side 
to  the  floor  and  to  the  edge  of  the  picture  by  the 
lines  of  fagots.  The  circuit,  which  helps  to  keep 
the  vision  in  the  picture  and  serves  to  render 
more  compact  the  subject  proper,  is  developed 
by  the  shelf,  weights  of  the  clock,  basket,  cap, 
items  upon  table,  shutter  and  bedpost.  For 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

proof  that  the  horizontal  lines  in  this  compo- 
sition were  all  placed  there  for  the  relief  of 
the  verticals,  with  the  first  of  which  the  picture 
starts,  let  us  remove  the  table,  basket  and  bench 
and  see  how  the  arrangement  becomes  one  of 
quadrangles,  paralleling  instead  of  uniting  with 
the  sides.  In  every  case,  in  the  accompanying 
illustrations,  there  has  been  an  effort  to  reach 
out  toward  the  sides  and  take  hold  there.  Those 
that  have  established  these  points  of  contact 
most  fully  are  the  most  stable  and  the  most 
satisfying. 

In  the  composition  of  the  "  Beautiful  Gate,"  by 
Raphael,  the  two  pillars,  in  that  they  span  the 
whole  distance  from  bottom  to  top,  destroy  all 
chance  for  unity.  Three  pictures  result  instead 
of  one — a  triptych  elaborately  framed.  Even 
with  these  verticals  cutting  the  picture  into  sec- 
tions, had  horizontals  been  introduced  between 
them  and  in  front,  or  even  behind,  some  of  the 
necessary  unity  of  pictorial  structure  could  have 
been  secured.  What  connection  exists  between 
these  several  parts  is  all  subjective,  but  not 
structural,  the  impulse  to  exhibit  the  wonderful 
columns  in  their  remarkable  perfection  of  detail 
being  a  temptation  to  which  the  picture  was 
sacrificed. 

Such  an  exhibition  of  the  uncontrolled  vertical 
produces  an  effect  on  a  par  with  a  football  car- 
ried straight  across  the  field  and  placed  on  the 
goal  line  without  opposition.  All  the  strategy 
of  the  game  is  left  out,  and  although  the  play 
produces  the  required  effect  in  the  score,  a  few 
[ 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

repetitions  of  the  procedure  would  soon  clear  the 
benches.  The  interest  to  the  spectators  and 
players  alike  enters  in  when  the  touch-down  is 
accomplished  after  a  series  of  zigzags  toward  the 
outer  line,  where  force  meeting  force  in  a  counter 
direction  results  in  a  tangent,  when  the  goal  is 
reached  by  the  subtlety  of  a  diagonal.  A  cushion 
carom  is  an  artistic  thing ;  a  set-up  shot  is  the 
beginner's  delight.  In  the  "  Allegory  of  Spring," 
by  Botticelli,  we  have  a  sample  of  structure  lack- 
ing both  circular  cohesion  and  the  stability  of 
the  cross  adhesion.  Like  separate  figures  and 
groups  of  a  photographic  collection,  it  might  be 
extended  indefinitely  on  either  side  or  cut  into 
four  separate  panels.  The  accessories  of  the  fig- 
ures offer  no  help  of  union.  Besides  the  lack  of 
structural  unity,  no  effort  toward  it  appears  in 
the  conception  of  the  subject.  Each  figure  or 
group  is  sufficient  unto  itself,  and  the  whole 
represents  a  group  of  separate  ideas.  This  is  not 
composition. 

But  what  of  the  single  figure  in  standing  por- 
traiture, when  only  the  person  is  presented,  and 
no  thought  desired  but  that  of  personality,  when 
the  outline  stands  relieved  by  spaces  of  nothing- 
ness? Though  less  apparent,  the  principle  of 
union  with  the  sides  still  abides.  What  is  known 
as  the  lost  and  found  outline  is  a  recognition  of 
this,  an  effort  of  the  background  to  become 
homogeneous  with  the  vertical  mass,  the  line 
giving  way  that  the  surrounding  tone  may  be  let 
in.  Such  is  the  feeling  with  which  many  of  the 
most  subtle  of  Whistler's  full-lengths  have  been 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

produced.  The  portraits  of  Carriere  are  still 
more  striking  examples  of  absolute  dismissal  of 
outline. 

In  the  well-known  portrait  of  "  Alice,"  by  Mr. 
Chase,  where  the  crisp  edges  of  a  white  dress  are 
relieved  against  a  dark  ground,  such  treatment 
is  impossible.  Here,  however,  the  device  of  fly- 
ing ribbons  is  a  most  clever  one,  which,  besides 
giving  the  effect  of  motion,  causes  an  interrup- 
tion in  these  clean-cut  outlines,  as  also  in  the 
formal  spaces  on  either  side.  The  horizontal  ac- 
cent of  dark  through  the  centre  of  the  canvas, 
suggesting  a  grand  piano  in  the  dim  recesses  be- 
hind, fulfills  a  like  obligation  from  the  linear  as 
well  as  tonal  standpoint. 

ANGULAR  COMPOSITION  BASED  ON  THE  HORI- 
ZONTAL. 

As  the  vertical  may  be  termed  the  figure 
painters'  line  so  the  horizontal  becomes  the  line 
of  the  landscape  painter.  Given  these  as  the 
necessary  first  things,  the  picture  is  made  by 
building  upon  and  around  them.  The  devices 
which  aid  the  figure  painter  in  disposing  of  one 
or  many  verticals  have  been  briefly  viewed.  A 
consideration  of  the  horizontal  will  necessarily 
take  us  out  of  doors  to  earth  and  sky,  where  na- 
ture constructs  on  surfaces  which  follow  the 
horizon. 

The  problem  in  composition  which  each  of 

these  lines  presents  is  the  same  and  the  principle 

governing  the  solution  of  each  identical ;  balance 

by  equalization  of  forces.     Given  a  line  which 

[H6] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

coincides  with  but  one  side  of  the  picture  it 
becomes  necessary  for  the  poise  of  the  quadri- 
lateral to  cross  it  with  an  opposing  line.  The 
rectangular  cross,  though  more  positive  and 
effective,  is  no  more  potential  in  securing  this 
unity  than  the  crossing  of  lines  at  a  long  angle. 
A  series  of  right  angles  will  in  time  arrive  at  the 
same  point  as  the  tangent,  but  less  quickly. 
Each  angle  in  such  an  ascent  produces  the  parity 
of  both  horizontal  and  vertical.  The  tangent  ex- 
presses their  synthesis.  In  Fortuny's  "  Connois- 
seurs," the  right  angle  formed  by  the  line  of 
the  mantel  and  the  statue  takes  the  eye  to  the 
same  point  as  the  tangent  of  the  shadow. 
Again,  the  principle  allows  the  modification  of 
any  arm  of  the  cross,  maintaining  only  the  fact 
of  the  cross  itself.  "When  a  line  passes  through 
the  first  or  necessary  line  of  construction  it  has, 
so  to  speak,  incorporated  itself  as  a  part  of  the 
picture,  and  what  it  becomes  thereafter  is  of 
no  great  importance.  If  the  reader  will  make 
simple  line  diagrams  of  but  a  few  pictures, 
this  point  will  be  made  clear,  and  it  will  be 
found  that  such  diagrams  which  represent  either 
the  actual  lines  of  direction  or  lines  of  suggestion 
from  point  to  point  or  mass  to  mass  will  com- 
fortably fill  the  quadrilateral  of  the  frame  as  a 
linear  design. 

In  all  analyses  of  pictures  the  student  should 
select  the  first  or  most  commanding  and  neces- 
sary line  of  the  conception.  Having  found  this 
thread  the  whole  composition  will  unravel  and 
disclose  a  reason  for  each  stitch. 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

Let  a  horizontal  base  line  be  assumed  and 
verticals  erected  therefrom,  without  crossing  it. 
The  reason  why  no  picture  results  is  because 
there  is  no  cross.  Such  a  design  would  suggest 
many  of  Fra  Angelica's  decorations  of  saints  and 
angels ;  or  the  plan  of  the  better  known  decora- 
tion of  "  The  Prophets  "  at  the  Boston  Library 
by  Sargent.  These  groups,  it  must  be  remem- 
bered, are  not  pictorial  and  are  not  compositions 
from  the  picture  point  of  view.  Their  homoge- 
neity depends  not  on  interchange  of  line  or  upon 
other  mechanics  of  composition,  but  only  upon 
the  unity  of  associated  ideas.  In  instances, 
however,  where  some  of  the  figures  of  these 
groups  are  joined  by  horizontal  lines  or  masses 
which  bisect  these  verticals  the  pictorial  inten- 
tion begins  to  be  felt. 

Of  the  accompanying  illustrations  that  of  the 
view  on  the  shore  with  overhanging  clouds 
shows  a  most  persistent  lot  of  horizontals  with 
nothing  but  the  lighthouse  and  the  masts  of  the 
vessels  to  serve  for  reactive  lines.  At  their 
great  distance  they  would  accomplish  little  to 
relieve  this  disparity  of  line  were  it  not  for  the 
aid  of  the  vertical  pillar  of  cloud  and  the  pull 
downward  which  the  eye  received  in  the  pool 
below  the  shore.  The  most  troublesome  line  in 
this  picture  is  the  shore  line,  but  an  effort  is 
made  here  to  break  its  monotony  by  two  accents 
of  bushes  on  either  side.  "What,  therefore,  would 
seem  to  be  a  composition  "  going  all  one  way," 
displays,  after  all,  a  strong  attempt  toward  the 
recognition  of  the  principle  of  crossed  lines. 
[118] 


SKETCH  FROM  THE  BOOK  OF  TRUTH  —  Claude  Lorraine 
Rectangle  Unbalanced 


THE  BEAUTIFUL  GATE  —  Raphael 

Verticals  Destroying  Pictorial  Unity 


i 

V/-; 


-.  A-  . 


'•  *"'  " 


_    f 


Parity  of  Horizontals  and  Verticals 


'•*  vi*-' 

•'!*'.;••  '      •          '      V 

-'V  ^  • 

"•••>£&>. 


Crossing  of  Horizontals  by  Spot   Diversion 


SKETCHES  FROM  LANDSCAPES  BY  HENRY  RANGER 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

The  sketch  shows  the  constructive  lines  of  a 
picture  by  Henry  Kanger,  and  lacks  the  force  of 
color  by  which  these  points  are  emphasized. 

In  the  wood  interior  the  stone  wall  is  the  dam- 
aging line.  Not  only  does  it  parallel  the  bottom 
line,  always  unfortunate,  but  it  cuts  the  picture 
in  two  from  side  to  side.  Above  this  the  bottom 
line  of  the  distant  woods  gives  another  parallel- 
ing line,  running  the  full  length  of  the  picture. 
Given  the  verticals  together  with  these,  how- 
ever, their  force  becomes  weakened  until  there 
ensues  an  almost  perfect  balance,  the  crossing 
lines  weighing  out  even.  The  sketch  from 
Claude  Lorraine,  out  of  the  "  Book  of  Truth," 
shows  a  great  left  angle  composition  of  line  not 
very  satisfactory,  owing  to  its  lack  of  weight  for 
the  long  arm  of  the  steelyard.  The  principle, 
however,  which  this  sketch  exhibits  is  correct, 
and  its  balance  of  composition  would  be  easily 
effected  by  the  addition  of  some  small  item  of 
interest  to  the  extreme  left.  It  is  not,  however, 
a  commendable  type  of  composition,  owing  to 
the  difficulty  of  obtaining  a  rational  balance,  but 
when  this  is  to  be  had  in  just  its  right  force  the 
plan  of  lines  is  excellent.  In  the  matter  of  meas- 
ures, were  the  whole  composition  pushed  to  the 
left  we  would  at  once  feel  a  relief  in  the  spaces. 
But  the  impressionist  queries  why  not  take  it  as 
it  stands !  So  it  might  be  taken,  and  a  most 
balanced  picture  painted  from  it;  but  these  con- 
siderations apply  to  the  black  and  white,  with- 
out the  alteration  which  color  might  effect. 

No  less  aggravated  a  case  of  horizontals  is  the 

[121] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

charming  picture  of  mother  and  child  by  Mr. 
Orchardson.  The  long  cane  sofa  and  the  recum- 
bent baby  are  the  two  unaccommodating  lines 
for  which  the  mother's  figure  was  especially 
posed.  Howsoever  unconscious  may  appear  the 
renderings  of  this  figure,  plus  the  fan,  the 
underlying  structure  of  it  conforms  absolutely  to 
the  requirements  of  the  unthinking  half  of  the 
subject.  It  is  an  instance  of  an  unpromising 
start,  resulting  with  especial  success  through 
skillful  playing  to  its  awkward  leads. 

The  principle  of  the  tangent  line  being  equiva- 
lent as  a  space  filler  to  the  crossed  horizontal  and 
vertical  is  shown  by  comparison  of  the  wood  in- 
terior with  the  winter  landscape,  in  which  the 
foreground  has  been  thus  disposed  of.  The  force 
of  a  horizontal  is  more  cleverly  weakened  by 
such  a  line  because  besides  adding  variety  it  ac- 
complishes its  intention  with  less  effort.  As  a 
warning  of  what  may  happen  when  these  prin- 
ciples are  neglected  or  overdone  one  glance  at 
the  equestrian  picture  by  Cuyp  is  sufficient.  His 
subject,  a  man  on  horseback,  is  an  excellent 
cross  of  a  horizontal  and  vertical  in  itself  and 
simply  required  to  be  let  alone  and  led  away 
from.  The  background  destroys  this  and,  in- 
stead of  being  an  aid  to  circular  observation, 
persists  in  adding  a  line  to  one  in  the  subject 
which  should  have  been  parried,  and  thus  cuts 
the  picture  in  two. 

Cuyp  in  this  as  in  another  similar  picture  had 
in  mind  light  and  shade  rather  than  linear  com- 
position, but  even  so,  the  composition  shows  little 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

intelligence.  No  amount  of  after  manipulation 
could  condone  so  vicious  a  slaughter  of  space 
and  line  opportunities  which  the  background, 
with  its  reduplicating  edge,  accomplishes. 

Study  in  that  vast  and  changeful  realm  the 
sky  offers  a  greater  opportunity  for  selection 
than  any  other  part  of  nature. 

The  sky  is  but  one  of  two  elements  in  every 
landscape  and  in  the  majority  of  cases  it  is  the 
secondary  element.  If  the  sky  is  to  agree  with 
an  interesting  landscape  it  must  retire  behind  it. 
If  it  causes  divided  interest,  its  interest  must  be 
sacrificed.  Drawings,  photographs  and  color 
studies  of  skies  with  the  intention  of  combining 
them  with  landscape  should  be  made  in  the 
range  of  secondary  interest  and  with  the  calcula- 
tion of  their  fitting  to  the  linear  scheme  of  land- 
scape. Skies  which  move  away  from  the  horizon 
diagonally,  suggesting  the  oppositional  feeling, 
are  more  useful  in  an  artist's  portfolio  than  a 
series  of  clouds,  the  bottoms  of  which  parallel 
the  horizon,  especially  when  these  float  isolated 
in  the  sky.  When  the  formal  terrace  of  clouds 
entirely  fills  the  sky  space,  its  massive  structure 
is  felt  rather  than  the  horizontal  lines,  just  as  a 
series  of  closely  paralleled  lines  becomes  a  flat 
tint. 

THE  LINE  OF  BEAUTY. 
The  most  elastic  and  variable  of  the  funda- 
mental   forms    of    composition    is  the    line  of 
beauty,  the  letter  S,  or,  conceived  more  angu- 
larly, the    letter   Z.     This   is  one  particularly 
[123] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

adapted  to  upright  arrangements  and  one  largely 
used  by  the  old  masters.  We  are  able  to  trace 
this  curvilinear  feeling  through  at  least  one-third 
of  the  great  figure  compositions  of  the  Renais- 
sance. Note  the  page  of  sketches  in  the  chapter 
on  Light  and  Shade.  Though  selected  for  this 


quality  they  show  a  strong  feeling  for  the  sweep- 
ing line  of  the  letter  S.  "The  Descent  from 
the  Cross,"  a  most  marked  example,  can  well  be 
considered  one  of  the  world's  greatest  composi- 
tions. Over  and  over  again  Rubens  has  repeated 
this  general  form  and  always  with  great  effect. 
Whether  the  line  is  traceable  upon  the  vertical 
[  I24] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

plane  or  carries  the  eye  into  the  picture  and 
forms  itself  into  the  graceful  union  of  one  object 
with  another,  its  great  pictorial  power  is  re- 
vealed to  any  who  will  look  for  it. 

In  Hogarth's  essay  on  "  The  Line  of  Beauty," 
he  sets  forth  a  series  of  seven  curves  selecting 
No.  4  as  the  most  perfect.  This  is  duplicated  in 
nature  by  the  line  of  a  woman's  back.  If  two  be 
joined  side  by  side  they  produce  the  beautiful 
curve  of  a  mouth  and  the  cupid's  bow.  Hori- 
zontally, the  line  becomes  a  very  serviceable  one 
in  landscape.  As  a  vertical  it  recalls  the  upward 
sweep  of  a  flame  which,  ever  moving,  is  symbolic 
of  activity  and  life.  To  express  this  line  both  in 
the  composition  of  the  single  figure  and  of  many 
figures  was  the  constant  effort  of  Michael  Angelo 
and,  through  Marcus  de  Sciena,  his  pupil,  it  has 
been  passed  down  to  us.  By  the  master  it  was 
considered  most  important  advice.  "  The  great- 
est grace,"  he  asserts,  "  that  a  picture  can  have  is 
that  it  express  life  and  motion,  as  that  of  a  flame 
of  fire."  Yet  in  the  face  of  such  a  statement 
from  the  painter  of  the  "  Last  Judgment "  it  is  dif- 
ficult to  reconcile  the  lack  of  it  in  this  great  pic- 
ture. 

The  compound  curve  which  this  line  con- 
tains is  one  of  perfect  balance,  traceable  in 
the  standing  figure.  As  an  element  of  grace, 
alone,  it  affords  the  same  delight  as  the  inter- 
weaving curves  of  a  dance  or  the  fascination 
of  coiling  and  waving  smoke.  Classic  landscape, 
in  which  many  elements  are  introduced,  or  any 
subject  where  scattered  elements  are  to  be  swept 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

together  and  controlled  is  dependent  upon  this 
principle.  An  absolute  line  is  not  of  course  nec- 
essary, but  points  of  attraction,  which  the  eye 
easily  follows,  is  an  equivalent.  Many  simple 
subjects  owe  their  force  and  distinction  entirely 
to  a  good  introduction  through  a  bold  sweeping 
curved  line.  Thanks  to  the  wagon  track  of  the 
seashore,  which  may  be  given  any  required 
curve,  the  formality  and  frequent  emptiness  of 
this  subject  is  made  to  yield  itself  into  good  com- 
position. When  the  subject  rejects  grace  and 
demands  a  rugged  form,  the  sinuous  flow  of  line 
may  be  exchanged  for  an  abrupt  and  forcible 
zigzag.  In  such  an  arrangement  the  eye  is  pulled 
sharply  across  spaces  from  one  object  to  another, 
the  space  itself  containing  little  of  interest.  In 
the  short  chapter  on  Getting  out  of  the  Picture, 
the  use  of  this  zigzag  line  was  emphasized. 

The  opportunity  offered  in  the  film-like  cirrus 
clouds,  which  so  frequently  lie  as  the  background 
to  the  more  positive  forms  of  the  cumulous,  for 
securing  the  oppositional  feeling,  is  one  frequently 
adopted  by  sky  painters.  Besides  strengthening 
the  structure  pictorially  such  arrangement  fre- 
quently imparts  great  swing  and  movement  in 
the  lines  of  a  sky,  carrying  the  eye  away  from 
the  horizon.  When  positive  cloud  motion  is  de- 
sired these  oppositional  masses  may  become  very 
suggestive  of  wind,  different  strata  showing  a 
contrasted  action  of  air  currents. 

As  an  adjunct  to  any  other  form  of  composition 
this  line  may  be  profitably  employed.  It  plays 
second  with  graceful  effect  in  the  "  Path  of  the 
[126] 


MOTHER  AND  CHILD — Orchardson 

Horizontals  Opposed  or  Covered 


STREAM  IN  WINTER —  W.  E.  Schofield 

Verticals  and  Horizontals  versus  Tangent 


DEPARTURE  FOR  THE  CHASE —  Cuyp 

Background  Destroying  Original  Structure 


Manzi,  Joyant  &  Co. 

REPOSE  OF  THE  REAPERS  —  L.  L'hermitte 

The  Curvilinear  Line 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

Surf,"  "  The  Lovers,"  "  The  Stream  in  Winter," 
"  The  Chant,"  "  1807,"  and  is  traceable  in  many 
of  the  best  compositions. 


THE  KECTANGLE. 

The  last  of  the  great  forms  of  composition  is 
the  rectangle,  but  this  always  in  connection  with 
oppositional  balance.  Such  a  form  attaches  itself 
to  two  sides  of  the  picture  and  the  importance 
of  a  reacting  measure  is  obvious.  In  this  lies  the 
warrant  for  its  use,  for  without  it  unity  is  impossi- 
ble. Of  the  six  fundamental  forms  of  composi- 
tion this  is  the  only  one  which  is  dependent,  all 
the  others  containing  within  themselves  the  ele- 
ment of  balance. 

The  rectangle  plus  the  isolated  measure  ap- 
proaches the  completeness  of  the  cross  and  in  the 
degree  it  lacks  this  completeness  it  develops  op- 
portunities for  originality. 

In  the  landscape  by  Corot  the  letter  L  is 
plainly  shown.  (See  diagram  of  Fundamental 
Forms.)  The  tree  mass,  cow  and  river  bank  in 
shadow  serve  as  a  sombre  foil  for  the  clump  of 
trees  upon  the  opposite  shore  which  are  bathed 
in  the  soft  luminous  haze  of  early  morning.  This 
is  the  real  subject  which,  grafted  upon  the 
heavy  structure  of  the  foreground  affects  us  the 
more  through  the  contrast.  In  Mr.  Pettie's  pic- 
ture of  "  James  II  and  the  Duke  of  Monmouth," 
we  have  the  opposition  of  the  two  lines,  the  at- 
traction in  the  open  space  being  the  line  of  seats 
along  the  wall.  These,  in  the  dimly  lighted  in- 
[  I29] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

terior,  are  scarcely  assertive  enough,  to  effect  the 
diversion  which  the  open  structure  demands. 

In  perspective  this  arrangement  merges  into 
the  triangle  which  has  already  been  discussed. 
The  "  Sheep  and  Shepherd,"  by  Jacque  is  con- 
structed upon  the  L  reversed  and  is  an  unusually 
strong  example  of  a  rare  arrangement. 


[  130] 


CHAPTEK  VIII 

EQUIVALENTS 

AN  object  may  be  apparently  moved  on  the 
canvas  by  creating  a  diversion  of  detail  on  the 
side  from  which  it  is  to  be  moved. 

An  object  may  be  rendered  less  important  by 
surrounding  it  with  objects  of  its  own  kind  and 
color. 

A  long  line  ending  abruptly  in  a  changed 
direction  is  equivalent  in  attraction  to  an  object 
on  that  line. 

With  two  spaces  of  equal  size,  importance 
may  be  given  to  one  of  them  by  increasing  its 
light,  by  using  leading  lines  toward  it,  by  plac- 
ing an  accent  upon  it,  by  creating  a  gradation 
in  it. 

Spots  often  become  the  equivalent  of  lines  in 
their  attractive  value. 

A  series  of  oppositional  lines  has  more  pic- 
turesqueness  than  the  tangent,  its  equivalent. 

A  gradation  may  often  substitute  for  an  object. 
(See  "  Her  Last  Moorings.") 

A  line  is  equal  in  its  attraction  to  many  times 
its  own  bulk. 

Brilliancy  is  increased  by  deepening  contiguous 
tones,  dark,  by  heightening  contiguous  tones. 

A  still-life  may  be  constructed  on  the  same 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

lines  as  any  form  on  the  vertical  plane  and  many 
of  the  perspective  series  of  composition. 

THE  COMPOSITION  OF  ONE,  Two,  THREE  AND 
MOKE  UNITS. 

Starting  with  a  single  idea  represented  by 
a  single  unit  the  coexistent  thought  must  be  the 
frame  or  canvas  circumference.  Supplying  this 
we  may  then  think  of  the  unit  as  a  matter  of 
proportion.  When  the  amount  of  space  allowed 
the  unit  has  been  decided,  the  space  between  its 
circumference  and  the  dimensions  of  the  canvas, 
or  what  may  be  called  the  surplus  or  contribut- 
ing area  is  the  only  thing  that  remains  to 
engage  us.  Let  the  unit  be  a  standing  figure,  or 
a  portrait,  head  and  shoulders. 

The  unification  of  a  unit,  enclosed  in  four 
sides,  with  those  sides  can  only  be  accomplished 
by  either  having  the  mass  of  the  figure  touch  the 
sides  of  the  canvas,  or  stretch  toward  them  with 
that  intent.  According  to  the  strength  or 
number  of  such  points  of  attachment  will  the 
unit  be  found  to  maintain  a  stable  existence 
amid  its  surroundings.  In  the  case  of  the  single 
figure  standing  within  the  frame  where  no 
chance  of  contact  occurs,  the  background  should 
show  an  oppositional  mass  or  line  attaching 
at  some  point  the  vertical  sides  of  the  figure  to 
the  sides  of  the  canvas.  An  equivalent  of  such  a 
line  is  a  gradation,  often  the  shadow  from  the 
figure  serving  to  effect  this-  union.  If  the 
shadow  unites  the  outline  with  the  background 
in  such  a  tone  as  to  subdue  or  destroy  this 
[  132] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

outline,  the  attachment  becomes  stronger  and  at 
the  same  time  the  positiveness  of  outline  on 
the  light  side  finds  its  contrast  and  balance  in 
this  area  of  mystery  and  envelopment. 

A  development  by  chiaroscuro  is  a  necessity  to 
the  pictorial  unity  of  the  single  figure. 

In  the  portrait  of  Olga  Nethersole  (see  "The 
Pose  in  Portraiture  "),  the  photographer  presents 
the  section  of  a  figure;  not  a  picture.  The 
spaces  in  the  background  form  no  scheme  with 
the  figure  and  have  not  been  used  to  relieve  the 
lines  of  the  skirt.  The  sacrifice  in  half-tone  of 
the  lower  part  would  have  given  prominence  to 
the  upper  and  more  important  part.  Owing  to 
the  interest  and  attraction  of  the  triplicated  folds 
of  the  dress  the  vision  is  carried  all  the  way  to 
the  lower  edge,  where  it  is  irritated  by  the 
sudden  disappearance.  The  picture  has  no  con- 
clusion. It  is  simply  cut  off,  and  so  ended. 

It  is  the  opinion  of  some  artists  that  the  por- 
trait having  for  its  purpose  the  presentation  of  a 
personality  should  contain  nothing  else.  With 
the  feeling  that  the  background  is  something  that 
should  not  be  seen,  more  art  is  often  expended 
in  painting  a  space  with  nothing  in  it  than  in 
putting  something  there  that  may  not  be  seen. 
In  doing  nothing  with  a  background  a  space  may 
be  created  that  says  a  great  deal  that  it  should  not. 

There  is  nothing  more  difficult  than  the  com- 
position of  two  units  especially  when  both  are  of 
equal  prominence.     The  principle  of  Principality 
sets  its  face  sternly  against  the  attempt. 
[133] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

One  must  dominate,  either  in  size,  or  attrac- 
tion, either  by  sentiment  or  action. 

Art  can  show  distinguished  examples  of  two 
figures  of  equal  importance  placed  on  the  same 
canvas,  but  pictorially  they  lack  the  essential  of 
complete  art, — unity.  The  critical  study  of  this 
problem  by  modern  painters  has  secured  in  por- 
traiture and  genre  much  better  solutions  than 
can  be  found  in  the  field  of  good  painting  up  to 
the  present.  We  may  look  almost  in  vain 
through  old  masterdom  and  through  the  ex- 
amples of  the  golden  age  of  portraiture  in  Eng- 
land, discovering  but  few  successes  of  such  com- 
bination in  the  works  of  Gainsborough,  Reynolds 
and  others. 

The  foreplacement  of  one  figure  over  another 
does  not  always  mean  prominence  for  it.  Light, 
as  an  element,  is  stronger  than  place.  On  this 
basis  where  honors  are  easy  with  the  two  sub- 
jects one  may  have  precedence  of  place  and  one 
of  lighting. 

The  difficulty  in  the  arrangement  of  two  is  in 
their  union.  If,  for  instance,  they  are  opposed 
in  sentiment  as  markedly  as  two  fencers  there 
yet  must  be  a  union  secured  in  the  background. 
If  placed  in  perspective,  perspective  settles  most 
of  the  difficulty. 

The  accompanying  pictures  are  examples  at 
both  ends  of  the  scale.  "  The  Lovers,"  in  con- 
struction, shows  what  all  pictures  demand,  the 
centripetal  tendency.  All  the  elements  consist. 
As  a  picture  it  is  complete;  another  figure 
would  spoil  it  for  us  and  them.  Not  so  the 
[134] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

"  Poulterers  "  ;  persons  could  come  and  go  in  this 
picture  without  effecting  it.  It  is  but  a  section 
at  best.  One  can  imagine  a  long  row  of  pickers, 
or  we  could  cut  it  through  the  centre  and  have 
two  good  studies.  There  is  no  union.  The 
other  contains  principality,  transition  of  line, 
balance  of  light  and  shade,  circular  observation, 
opposition  of  color  values  and  the  principle  of 
sacrifice. 

In  Mr.  Orchardson's  "  Mother  and  Child  "  the 
first  place  is  given  to  the  child  in  white;  the 
background  carries  the  middle  tint  and  the 
mother  has  been  reserved  in  black.  Greater 
sacrifice  of  one  figure  to  another,  the  mother  to 
the  child,  is  seen  in  Miss  Kasebier's  picture  of  a 
nude  infant  held  between  the  knees  of  the 
mother  whose  face  is  so  abased  as  to  be  unseen  ; 
or  in  John  Sargent's  portrait  of  a  boy  seated  and 
gazing  toward  us  into  space  while  his  mother  in 
the  half -shadow  of  the  background  reads  aloud. 
The  greatest  contributing  force  to  contrast  is 
sacrifice.  The  subject  is  known  to  be  important 
by  what  is  conceded  to  it. 

The  portrait  of  two  gentlemen  by  Eastman 
Johnson  is  one  of  the  most  successful  attempts  at 
bringing  two  figures  of  equal  importance  on  to 
one  canvas.  They  are  in  conversation,  the  one 
talking  and  active,  the  other  listening  and  pass- 
ive, and  the  necessary  contrast  is  thus  created. 

In  the  combination  of  three  units  the  objection 
of  formal  balance  disappears.  If  one  be  opposed 
by  two,  the  force  gained  by  the  one  through  iso- 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

lation  commensurates  the  two.  In  such  arrange- 
ment the  two  may  be  united  by  overlapping  so 
that  though  the  sense  and  idea  of  two  be  present 
it  is  shown  in  one  mass  as  a  pictorial  unit.  This 
general  disposition,  experience  shows  to  be  the 
best.  Two  other  good  forms  are  two  separated 
units  joined  by  other  items  and  opposed  to  one, 
or  the  three  joined  either  directly  or  by  sug- 
gestion, the  units  balanced  like  a  triangle  by  op- 
position. The  Madonna  and  St.  John  with  the 
Infant  Christ  is  a  sample  of  the  first.  (See 
page  204).  In  the  "Connoisseurs"  by  Fortuny 
we  have  the  second  form,  and  in  the  "  Huntsman 
and  Hounds  "  the  third.  A  most  original  and 
commendable  arrangement  of  three  figures  by 
W.  L.  Hollinger  appears  in  "The  Pose  in  Por- 
traiture," the  members  of  a  trio,  violin,  cello  and 
piano.  The  pianist  is  designated  by  the  sug- 
gestion of  her  action  which  is  completed  out  of 
the  picture.  In  her  position  however  she  ac- 
complishes the  balancing  of  two  figures  against 
one. 

THE  FIGURE  IN  LANDSCAPE. 

A  writer  on  the  use  of  the  figure  in  out-of-door 
photography  after  leading  the  reader  through 
many  pages  concludes  by  saying :  after  all  you 
had  better  leave  them  out. 

In  two  works  on  photography  from  an  English 
and  American  press  the  writer  has  seen  this 
article  quoted  in  full  and  therefore  infers  that 
the  author  has  been  taken  seriously. 

The  relation  of  Man  to  Nature,  and  the  senti- 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

ment,  interchangeable,  proceeding  from  one  to 
the  other,  is  a  link  binding  the  one  to  the  dust 
from  which  he  sprang  and  the  other  to  the 
moods  of  man  to  which  she  makes  so  great  an 
appeal.  It  is  a  union  of  a  tender  nature  to 
the  real  lover  of  the  voiceless  influences  which 
surround  him : 

"Tears,  idle  tears, 

I  know  not  what  they  mean,     .    .    . 
Else  in  the  heart  and  gather  to  the  eyes 
In  looking  on  the  happy  Autumn  fields." 

Can  a  sentiment  so  strong  in  fact,  be  divorced 
in  art  ?  It  is  the  fulcrum  on  which  the  art 
of  Mauve  and  Millet  and  Walker  lifts  and  turns 
us.  It  is  not  necessary  to  mention  other 
painters ;  but  to  the  case  in  point  observe  that  at 
Barbizon  a  photographer  of  artistic  perceptions 
has  for  years  followed  in  the  footprints  of  Millet. 
If  nature  moves  as  directly  she  will  move  as 
through  our  own  kind.  We  feel  the  vastness  of 
a  scene  by  the  presence  of  a  lone  figure.  The 
panoramic  grandeur  of  the  sky  attracts  us  the 
more  if  it  has  also  appealed  to  a  figure  in  the 
picture.  But  beyond  this  affinity  in  the  subject 
there  are  sufficient  reasons  why  the  figure  should 
be  included.  The  figure  can  be  moved  about  as 
a  knight  in  the  game,  hither  and  yon  as  the 
fixed  conditions  of  topography  demand.  Many 
a  landscape  which  would  be  entirely  useless 
without  such  an  element  is  not  only  redeemed, 
but  is  found  to  be  particularly  prepared  and 
waiting  for  this  keystone.  Take  for  example 
[137] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

a  picture  in  which  lines  are  paralleling  one 
another  in  their  recession  from  the  foreground 
or  where  there  is  a  monotony  in  any  horizontal 
sequence.  The  vertical  of  the  figure  means  the 
balance  of  these.  The  principle  is  one  already 
noted,  action  balancing  action  in  contrary  di- 
rection. 

What  of  the  nymphs  of  Corot,  or  the  lav- 
euses  bending  at  the  margin  of  the  lake,  the 
plowman  homeward  plodding  o'er  the  lea,  the 
shepherd  on  the  distant  moor,  the  woodsman  in 
the  forest,  the  farmer  among  his  fields.  "We  as- 
sociate our  vision  of  the  scene  with  theirs. 
"When  as  mere  dots  they  are  discerned,  the  vast- 
ness  of  their  surroundings  is  realized  at  their  ex- 
pense and  the  exclamation  of  the  psalmist  is 
ours:  "What  is  man  that  thou  art  mindful  of 
him." 

The  danger  in  the  use  of  the  figure  is  that  it  is 
so  frequently  lugged  in.  The  friends  that  hap- 
pen to  be  along  are  often  made  to  do.  There  is 
no  case  where  the  fitness  of  things  is  more  com- 
pulsory than  in  the  association  of  figures  with 
landscape.  The  haymaker  creates  a  sensation 
on  Broadway  but  no  more  so  than  Dundreary 
crossing  a  plowed  field  in  Oxford  ties.  As  the 
poetry  of  a  Corot  landscape  invites  the  nymphs 
to  come  and  the  ruggedness  of  the  Barbizon 
plain  befits  the  toiling  peasants  of  Millet,  so 
should  our  landscape  determine  the  chord  in 
humanity  to  be  harmoniously  played  with  it. 

A  fault  in  construction  is  frequently  seen  in 
the  lack  of  simplicity  of  foreplane  and  back- 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

ground.  It  must  first  be  determined  whether  it 
is  to  be  a  landscape  with  figures  or  figures 
in  landscape.  The  half  one  and  half  another 
picture  is  a  sure  failure. 

The  most  serviceable  material  one  may  collect 
in  sketching  are  such  positions  which  play  second 
or  third  parts  in  composition ;  cattle  or  other 
animals  in  back  or  three-quarter  view  which 
readily  unite  with  and  lead  to  their  principals. 


CHAPTER  IX 

GROUPS 

IN  the  statuesque  group  the  outline  is  impor- 
tant because  this  is  seen  against  the  background 
of  wall,  or  sky,  and  frequently  in  silhouette. 
Any  fault  in  its  contour  as  a  mass  is  therefore 
emphasized.  This  consideration  applies  picto- 
rially  to  groups  which  are  complete  in  themselves 
and  have  no  incorporation  with  backgrounds, 
such  for  instance  as  the  photographic  group  of  a 
number  of  people.  Here  personality  is  the  first 
requirement,  but  harmony  of  arrangement  and 
picturesqueness  may  be  united  thereto.  The  two 
best  shapes  are  the  oval  and  the  pyramid.  In 
either  of  these  outlines  there  is  opportunity  for  a 
focal  centre,  always  important.  In  forming  such 
an  arrangement  the  focus  should  be  the  first  con- 
sideration, item  by  item  being  added.  As  the 
group  approaches  the  outline  it  must  be  gov- 
erned according  to  the  form  desired.  A  more 
artistic  combination  of  figures  will  be  found  to 
be  a  separation  into  a  large  and  a  small  group, 
the  principal  figure  placed  in  either.  If  in  the 
former,  the  figures  of  the  smaller  group  must  be 
sacrificed  to  this  figure,  either  in  pose  or  light- 
ing. If  the  principal  figure  is  in  the  smaller 
group  or  entirely  separate,  this  isolation  will 
prove  sufficient  for  the  distinction. 
[ 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

Where  greater  liberties  may  be  taken  and  the 
intention  is  for  a  purely  artistic  composition,  the 
curvilinear  S  shape  will  be  found  a  good  line  to 
build  upon.  When  this  is  too  apparent  a  single 
oppositional  figure  will  destroy  its  formality. 

The  possibilities  of  the  single  figure  as  a  re- 
serve, kept  to  be  placed  at  the  last  moment 
where  something  is  necessary,  are  worth  noting. 
If  the  group  be  too  formal  in  outline,  lateral  ar- 
rangement, or  expression,  the  reserve  may  be 
played  as  a  foil  to  create  a  diversion. 

In  all  successful  groups  the  principle  of  sacri- 
fice must  play  havoc.  Here  the  artist  should 
expect  to  pay  for  his  art  scruples.  Kembrandt 
was  the  first  painter  sacrificed  to  these  instincts. 
When  the  order  to  paint  the  "  Municipal  Guard  " 
came  to  him  he  saw  in  it  an  opportunity  toward 
the  pictorial.  Knowing  what  this  entailed  he 
persevered,  despite  the  mutterings  of  his  sitters, 
the  majority  of  whom  were  ill  pleased  with  their 
respective  positions.  When  finally  the  canvas 
was  finished,  full  of  mystery  and  suggestiveness 
and  those  subtle  qualities,  such  as  before  had 
never  been  seen  in  Dutch  art,  those  for  whom 
it  had  been  executed  expressed  their  opinion  by 
giving  an  order  for  the  same  to  a  rival.  His 
picture  is  a  collection  of  separate  individuals, 
each  having  an  equal  importance.  Here  was  the 
sudden  ending  of  Kembrandt's  career  as  a  painter 
of  portraits,  only  one  canvas  of  an  important 
group  being  painted  thereafter — the  "  Syndics." 
A  certain  reason  in  this  popular  criticism  cannot 
be  denied.  The  composition  is  unnecessarily 

[MI] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

scattered  and  the  placements  arbitrary,  though 
through  the  radial  lines  of  pikes  and  flag  pole 
the  scattered  parts  are  drawn  together.  The 
composition  partakes  of  the  confusion  of  the 
scene  depicted,  yet  in  its  measure  of  parts  one 
can  doubt  not  that  the  comparative  values  of  his 
sitters  have  been  considered. 

The  democracy  of  man  in  his  freedom  and 
equality  is  the  despair  of  the  artist  who  knows 
that  the  harmony  of  the  universe  is  condi- 
tional on  kingship  and  principalities  and  powers, 
and  the  scale  of  things  from  the  lowest  to  the 
highest. 

Says  Mr.  Kuskin :  "  The  great  object  of  com- 
position being  always  to  secure  unity — that  is,  to 
make  many  things  one  whole — the  first  mode  in 
which  this  can  be  effected  is  by  determining  that 
one  feature  shall  be  more  important  than  all  the 
rest  and  that  others  shall  group  with  it  in  sub- 
ordinate position." 

Principality  may  be  secured  either  by  attrac- 
tion of  light  as  in  a  white  dress  or  by  placing  the 
figure  as  the  focus  of  leading  lines  as  are  sup- 
plied by  the  architecture  of  a  building,  or  such 
lines  as  are  happily  created  by  surrounding 
figures  which  proceed  toward  the  principal  one, 
or  by  including  such  a  figure  in  the  most  im- 
portant line.  Again  the  figure  for  such  a  posi- 
tion may  be  the  only  one  in  a  group  which  ex- 
hibits unconcern  or  absolute  repose,  the  others 
by  expression  or  action  acknowledging  such 
sovereignty. 

The  summer  time  out-of-door  group  which  is 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

so  frequently  interesting  only  to  "friends,"  in 
many  cases  affords  opportunities  for  pictures  at- 
tractive to  all.  The  average  photographer  is 
concerned  only  with  his  people ;  the  background 
is  brought  to  mind  when  he  sees  the  print. 
Although  little  or  no  interest  may  be  found  in 
the  background  it  should  be  appropriate,  and 
should  play  a  reserve  part,  serving  the  chiaros- 
curo and  therefore  the  illumination  of  the  sub- 
ject and  creating  an  opportunity  for  the  exit 
which  always  gives  depth  and  an  extended  in- 
terest. A  mass  of  foliage  with  little  penetration 
by  the  sky  except  in  one  or  two  places  and  at 
the  side,  not  the  centre,  may  always  be  found 
safe.  If  the  attraction  is  too  great  the  group 
suffers.  Appreciating  the  importance  of  his  set- 
ting for  groups  the  photographer  must  select 
these  with  three  points  in  view ;  simplicity,  unin- 
terest  and  exit  in  background ;  simplicity,  unin- 
terest  and  leading  line  or  balancing  mass  or  spot 
(if  required)  in  foreground.  When  looking  for 
backgrounds  he  may  feel  quite  sure  he  has  one  if 
it  is  the  sort  of  thing  he  would  never  dream  of 
photographing  on  its  own  account.  Besides  be- 
ing too  interesting,  most  backgrounds  are  inap- 
propriate and  distracting.  The  frequent  com- 
mendations and  prizes  accorded  to  good  subjects 
having  these  faults  and  therefore  devoid  of  unity 
tell  how  little  even  photographic  judges  and 
editors  think  on  the  appropriate  and  essential 
ensemble  in  composition. 

With  the  background  in  unobjectionable  evi- 
dence the  photographer  should  rapidly  address 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

his  posers  a  little  lecture  on  compositional  re- 
quirements and  at  the  end  ask  for  volunteers  for 
the  sacrificial  parts,  at  the  same  time  reminding 
them  that  the  back  or  side  view  is  not  only  char- 
acteristic of  the  person  but  often  very  interest- 
ing. He  should  maintain  that  a  unity  be  evident 
in  the  group  ;  of  intent,  of  line,  and  of  gradation. 
The  first  is  subjective  and  must  be  felt  by  the 
posers.  The  other  two  qualifications  are  for  the 
artist's  consideration.  At  such  a  time  his  ac- 
quaintance with  examples  of  pictorial  art  will 
come  to  his  aid.  He  must  be  quick  to  recognize 
the  possibilities  of  his  material  which  may  be 
hurriedly  swept  into  one  of  the  forms  which 
have  justified  confidence. 

When  a  continuity  of  movement  has  been 
secured,  a  revisionary  glance  must  be  given  to 
determine  if  the  whole  is  balanced  ;  background, 
foreground  and  focus,  one  playing  into  the  other 
as  the  lines  of  a  dance,  leading,  merging,  dissolv- 
ing, recurring. 

Mindful  of  the  distractions  of  such  occasions, 
the  wise  man  has  done  his  thinking  beforehand, 
has  counted  his  figures,  has  noted  the  tones  of 
clothing  and  has  resolved  on  his  focal  light. 
With  this  much  he  has  a  start  and  can  begin  to 
build  at  once.  His  problem  is  that  of  the  maker 
of  a  bouquet  adding  flower  to  flower  around  the 
centre. 

To  make  a  rough  sketch  from  the  models  them- 
selves posed  and  thought  over,  with  the  oppor- 
tunity for  erasures  of  revisions  before  leading 
them  out  of  doors,  often  proves  economy  of  time. 
[  144] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

It  is  a  custom  of  continental  painters  to  com- 
pose extensive  groups  and  photograph  them  for 
study  in  arrangement.  The  author  has  seen 
numerous  compositions  in  photography  in  which 
artists  have  posed  as  characters  of  well-known 
paintings. 

Much  can  be  learned  of  good  grouping  from 
the  stage,  especially  the  French  stage.  The  best 
managers  start  with  the  picturesque  in  mind  and 
are  on  the  alert  to  produce  well  arranged  pic- 
tures. The  plays  of  Victorien  Sardou  and  the 
classic  dramas  of  the  state  theatre  are  studies  in 
the  art  of  group  arrangements. 

It  will  be  noticed  in  most  groups  that  there 
is  an  active  and  a  passive  element,  that  many 
figures  in  their  reserve  are  required  to  play 
second  to  a  few.  The  active  principle  is  repre- 
sented by  these  to  whom  a  single  idea  is  de- 
livered for  expression. 

In  "  The  Ketura  of  the  Hunting  Party "  the 
group  of  hounds,  huntsman  and  deer  is  such  an 
element  of  reserve,  contrasting  its  repose  with 
the  bustle  and  activity  of  the  visitors.  It  is  a 
diversion  also  for  the  long  line  stretching  across 
the  picture.  This  is  the  more  evident  through 
the  repetition  of  it  in  the  line  of  the  second-story 
and  roof  and  below  in  the  line  of  game  which 
unnecessarily  extends  the  group  of  hounds.  A 
relief  for  the  insistent  line  of  the  figures  could 
have  been  supplied  by  lighter  drapery  back  of 
the  table.  This  then  would  have  created  a  cross 
tone  connecting  the  hounds  in  a  curve  with  the 
upper  centre  panel.  It  is  a  picture  in  five  hori- 
[  MS  J 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

zootal  strips,  and  is  introduced  for  the  warn- 
ing it  contains  in  its  treatment  of  a  group  which 
is  in  itself  a  line.  The  well-known  "Spanish 
Marriage  "  by  Fortuny  also  shows  the  reserve 
group,  but  the  contrast  is  more  positive  both  in 
repose  and  color.  The  main  and  more  distant 
group  is  well  centralized  and  there  is  a  clever 
diminuendo  expressed  in  its  characters. 

In  "  The  Keapers  "  (page  128)  this  idea  has  apt 
illustration.  The  figure  in  the  foreground  is  in 
contrast  with  the  remaining  three,  both  as  an 
oppositional  line  and  in  his  action,  the  three  be- 
ing in  repose.  The  single  figure,  though  active, 
does  not  attract  as  much  as  the  child  who  re- 
ceives importance  from  the  attention  of  the  two 
figures.  Her  position,  opposed  to  the  two,  turns 
the  interest  back  into  the  group.  In  all  the 
compositions  by  this  master  one  in  impressed  by 
the  grace  and  force  of  the  arrangement.  A 
small  portfolio  of  his  charcoal  reproductions  or  a 
few  photographs  of  his  pictures  should  be  a  part 
of  the  print  collection  of  every  artist.  No  bet- 
ter designer  of  small  groups  ever  lived. 

With  the  amount  of  good  art  now  coming 
from  the  camera  it  is  strange  that  no  groups  of 
note  have  been  produced.  In  the  field  of  pure 
portraiture  the  attempt  may  as  well  be  aban- 
doned. The  photographer  can  at  best  but  miti- 
gate conditions.  The  picture  group  can  only 
apply  when  sacrifice  and  subordination  are  pos- 
sible. 

A  study  of  famous  groups  will  settle  this  and 
other  points  mentioned  beyond  question.     In  the 
[146] 


THE  LOVERS — Gtisso-w 


THE  POULTERERS  —  Wallander 


UNITY  AND  ITS  LACK 


RETURN  OF  ROYAL  HUNTING  PARTY  —  Isabey 


THE  NIGHT  WATCH  —  Rembrandt 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

religious  group,  where  the  idea  of  adoration  was 
paramount,  the  principal  figure  was  usually, 
though  not  always,  given  place  in  the  upper  part 
of  the  picture  toward  which  by  gestures,  leading 
lines  or  directed  vision  our  attention  is  drawn  at 
once.  Note  the  figures  which  sacrifice  to  this 
effect  in  the  "  Transfiguration,"  "  The  Immaculate 
Conception,"  "  The  Sistine  Madonna,"  "  The  Vir- 
gin Enthroned,"  "  The  Adoration  of  the  Magi," 
and  in  fact  all  of  the  world  famous  compositions 
of  the  old  religious  art. 

In  one  of  the  most  famous  of  modern  groups 
"  The  Cossacks  Reply  to  the  Sultan  of  Turkey," 
by  the  greatest  of  Russian  painters  Elias  Repine, 
the  force  given  to  the  hilarious  frenzy  of  the 
group  by  the  occasional  figure  in  repose  is  easily 
apparent. 

The  answer  to  a  summons  for  surrender  is 
being  penned  upon  a  rude  table  around  which 
press  close  the  barbaric  leaders  of  the  forces 
gathered  in  the  distance.  Some  are  lolling  on 
wine  casks,  others  indifferently  gaze  at  the  fingers 
of  the  clerk  as  he  carefully  pens  the  document, 
others  smoke  silently,  one  is  looking  out  of  the 
picture  as  though  unconcerned.  Yet  life  and 
movement  are  instinct  in  every  part,  for  though 
the  action  is  consigned  to  but  a  few, — these  form 
a  series  of  small  climaxes  through  the  entire  cir- 
cumference of  the  group  and  we  feel  in  another 
moment  that  the  passive  expressions  will  in  their 
turn  be  exchanged  for  the  mad  ribaldry  of  laugh- 
ter which  has  seized  their  brethren.  The  group 
is  a  triumph  for  several  aesthetic  realities  pro- 
[  149] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

duced  and  heightened  by  contrast  and  subordi- 
nation. 

The  principality  of  repose  is  well  illustrated  in 
the  group  of  "  The  Chant "  (page  175)  where  the 
inaction  of  the  woman  dominates  through  its  con- 
trast with  the  effort  expressed  by  the  other  mem- 
bers of  the  group. 

There  are  three  types  of  group  composition ; 
first,  where  the  subject's  interest  is  centred  upon 
an  object  or  idea  within  the  picture  as  in  "  The 
Cabaret"  or  Rembrandt's  "Doctors"  surround- 
ing a  dissecting  table ;  second,  where  the  attrac- 
tion lies  outside  the  picture  as  in  the  "  Syndics  " 
or  the  "Night  Watch,"  and  third,  where  absolute 
repose  is  expressed  and  the  sentiment  of  reverie 
has  dominated  the  group,  as  in  "  The  Madonna 
of  the  Chair,"  and  the  ordinary  family  photo- 
graph. 

The  spiritual  or  sentimental  quality  of  the 
theme  should  have  first  consideration  and  dictate 
the  form  of  arrangement.  A  unity  between  the 
idea  and  its  form  of  expression  constitutes  the 
desideratum  of  refinement  in  composition. 


CHAPTER  X 

LIGHT  AND  SHADE 

IN  this  familiar  term  in  art  the  importance  of 
the  two  elements  is  suggested  in  their  order. 

The  effort  of  the  painter  is  ever  in  the  direc- 
tion of  light.  This  is  his  thought.  Shade  is 
a  necessity  to  the  expression  of  it. 

Chiaroscuro, — from  the  Italian,  light  obscure, 
in  its  derivation,  gives  a  hint  of  the  manufacture 
of  a  work  of  light  and  shade. 

Light  is  gained  by  sacrifice.  This  is  one 
of  the  first  things  a  student  grasps  in  the 
antique  class.  Given  an  empty  outline  he  pro- 
duces an  effect  of  light  by  adding  darks.  So  do 
we  get  light  in  the  composition  of  simple  ele- 
ments, by  sacrifice  of  some  one  or  more,  or 
a  mass  of  them,  to  the  demands  of  the  lighter 
parts.  "Learn  to  think  in  shadows,"  says 
Ruskin.  Rembrandt's  art  entire,  is  the  best 
case  in  point.  A  low  toned  and  much  colored 
white  may  be  made  brilliant  by  dark  opposition. 
The  gain  to  the  color  scheme  lies  in  its  power  to 
exhibit  great  light  and  at  the  same  time  suggest 
fullness  of  color. 

As  we  have  discussed  line  and  mass  compo- 
sition as  balanced  over  the  central  vertical  line, 
so  is  the  question  of  light  and  shade  best  com- 
prehended, as  forces  balancing,  over  a  broad 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

middle  tint.  The  medium  tint  is  the  most  im- 
portant, both  for  tone  and  color.  This  com- 
mands the  distribution  of  measures  in  both  direc- 
tions; toward  light  and  toward  dark.  Draw- 
ings in  outline  upon  tinted  paper  take  on  a  sur- 
prising finish  with  a  few  darks  added  for  shadow 
and  the  high  lights  touched  in  with  chalk  or 
Chinese  white.  The  method  in  opaque  water 
color,  employed  by  F.  Hopkinson  Smith  and 
others,  of  working  over  a  tinted  paper  such  as 
the  general  tone  of  the  subject  suggests,  has  its 
warrant  in  the  early  art  of  the  Venetian 
painters.  If  a  blue  day,  a  blue  gray  paper  is 
used ;  if  a  mellow  day,  a  yellow  paper. 

In  pictorial  art  the  science  of  light  and  dark  is 
not  reducible  to  working  formulae  as  in  decora- 
tion, where  the  measures  of  Notan  are  governed 
on  the  principle  of  interchange.  Through  decora- 
tion we  may  touch  more  closely  the  hidden  princi- 
ples of  light  and  shade  in  pictures  than  without 
the  aid  of  this  science,  and  the  artist  of  decorative 
knowledge  will  always  prove  able  in  "  effect "  in 
his  pictorial  work. 

With  that  clear  conception  of  the  power  of 
the  light  and  the  dark  measure  which  is  ac- 
quired in  the  practice  of  "  spotting  "  and  filling 
of  spaces,  especially  upon  a  middle  tint,  the 
problem  of  bringing  into  prominence  any  item 
of  the  picture  is  simplified  upon  the  decorative 
basis. 

Pictorially  the  light  measure  is  more  attract- 
ive than  the  dark,  but  the  dark  in  isolation 
is  nearly  as  powerful. 

[I52J 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

With  this  simple  notion  in  mind  the  artist  pro- 
ceeds upon  his  checker-board  opposing  force 
to  force. 

With  him  the  work  can  never  be  as  absorbing 
as  to  the  decorator  whose  items  are  all  of  about 
the  same  value  and  of  recurring  kinds.  The 
subject  dictates  to  the  painter  who  must  play 
more  adroitly  and  by  the  use  of  devices  such 
as  nature  offers  to  secure  an  effect  of  light 
and  dark. 

As  a  matter  of  brilliancy  of  light,  with  which 
painting  is  concerned,  the  effect  is  greater  when 
a  small  measure  of  light  is  opposed  to  a  large 
measure  of  dark  than  when  much  light  is 
opposed  to  little  dark.  Comparison  between 
Whistler's  "  Woman  in  White,"  a  white  gown 
relieved  against  a  white  ground,  the  black  of  the 
picture  being  the  woman's  hair,  and  any  one  of 
the  manger  scenes  of  the  fifteenth  century 
painters  with  their  concentration  of  light  will 
prove  how  much  greater  the  sense  of  light  is  in 
the  latter. 

When  much  light  and  little  dark  produces 
great  brilliancy  it  is  usually  by  reason  of  a 
gradation  in  the  light,  giving  it  a  cumulative 
power,  as  is  seen  in  the  sky  or  upon  receding  ob- 
jects on  a  foggy  day.  A  small  dark  added,  in- 
tensifies the  light,  not  only  by  contrast  of 
measure,  but  in  showing  the  high  key  of  the 
light  measures. 

Accents  of  dark  produce  such  snappiness  as  is 
commended  by  the  publisher  who  esteems  the 
brilliancy  which  a  rapid  interchange  of  lights  and 
[153] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

darks  always  yields,  a  sparkle,  running  through 
the  whole  and  easily  printed.  The  works  of 
Mr.  Wenzell  as  a  single  example  of  this  quality, 
or  of  Mr.  Henry  Hutt,  in  lighter  key,  will  be 
found  to  gain  much  of  their  force  from  a  very 
few  accents  of  dark.  On  the  other  hand  when 
the  work  deals  with  a  medium  tone  and  darks, 
with  few  high  lights,  these  gain  such  importance 
as  to  control  the  important  items. 

The  value  of  the  middle  tint,  when  not  used 
as  the  under  tone  of  a  picture  is  apparent  as  bal- 
ancing and  distributing  the  light  and  dark 
measures  of  objects.  When,  for  instance,  these 
three  degrees  of  tone  are  used,  if  the  black  and 
white  are  brought  together  and  the  middle  tone 
opposed  a  sense  of  harmony  results.  The  black 
and  white  if  mixed  would  become  a  middle  tone. 
"We  feel  the  balance  of  measures  without  synthe- 
sis or  inquiry.  Many  of  the  compositions  of 
Tolmouche  of  two  and  three  female  figures  are 
thus  disposed,  one  figure  having  a  gray  dress 
and  one  a  black  dress  and  white  waist,  or  a 
black  figure  and  white  are  placed  together  and 
opposed  to  a  figure  in  gray.  In  Munkacsy's 
"  Milton  Dictating  to  His  Daughters,"  the  broad 
white  collar  of  the  poet  contrasted  with  his 
black  velvet  suit,  is  well  balanced  and  dis- 
tributed by  the  medium  tones  of  the  three 
dresses. 

An  accent  is  forcible  in  proportion  as  its  own 

unit  of  intensity  is  distributed  over  the  space  on 

which  it  is  placed.     Take  for  instance  a  picture 

in  India  ink  of  a  misty  morning  wherein  the 

[  154] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

whole  landscape  may  be  produced  with  a  small 
drop  of  ink  spread  in  light  gradations  upon  ten 
by  fourteen  inches  square.  An  object  in  the 
foreground  one  by  two  inches  in  which  the  same 
measure  of  black  is  used  will  of  course  possess 
powerful  attraction.  If,  however,  this  measure 
be  expanded  the  gain  in  bulk  will  be  balanced  by 
the  loss  in  intensity.  Less  attraction  for  the  ob- 
ject is  given  either  by  increasing  the  intensity  of 
the  surrounding  tint  or  decreasing  its  extent. 
In  the  two  pictures  by  Gerome  of  lions,  the  one 
in  the  midst  of  the  vast  space  of  desert  obtains 
its  force  from  its  dark  isolated  in  a  large  area. 
In  the  other  picture  the  emerald  green  eyes  of 
the  lion  are  the  attraction  of  the  picture,  as 
points  of  light  relieved  by  the  great  measures  of 
dark  of  the  lion,  together  with  the  gloom  of  the 
cave. 

The  message  of  impressionism  is  light,  as  the 
effort  of  the  early  painters  was  to  secure  light, 
the  quest  of  all  the  philosophies.  The  impres- 
sionist calls  upon  every  part  of  his  work  to  speak 
of  light,  the  middle  tint,  the  high  lights  and  the 
shadow  all  vibrating  with  it.  From  the  decora- 
tive point  of  view  alone,  the  picture,  as  a  surface 
containing  the  greatest  amount  of  beauty  of 
which  the  subject  is  capable  is  more  beautiful 
when  varied  by  many  tones,  or  by  few,  in  strong 
contrast,  than  when  this  variety  or  contrast  is 
wanting.  Those  decorative  designs  have  the 
strongest  appeal  in  which  the  balancing  measures 
are  all  well  defined.  There  are  schemes  of  much 
dark  and  little  light,  or  the  reverse,  or  an  even 
[155] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

division,  and  in  each  case  the  balance  of  light 
and  dark  is  sustained  ;  for  when  there  is  little 
dark  its  accenting  power  is  enhanced  and  when 
little  light  is  allowed,  it,  in  the  same  manner, 
gains  in  attraction.  But  light  and  dark  every 
work  of  art  must  have ;  for  to  think  of  light 
without  dark  is  impossible.  When,  therefore, 
the  artist  begins  a  picture  his  first  thought  is 


THE  VIEW-METBE. 

what  is  to  be  the  scheme  of  light  and  shade  ? 
The  direction  or  source  of  the  light  helps  a  de- 
cision. The  illumination  of  the  subject  is  a  study 
most  easily  proceeded  with  by  induction,  from 
particular  cases  to  general  conclusions. 

The  effectiveness  of  the  first  of  the  two  re- 
versible photographs  is  as  great  as  the  last 
and  the  subject  as  picturesque  though  it  be  dis- 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

covered  that  the  first  is  the  second  placed  on 
end.  It  is  able  to  satisfy  us  not  only  because  of 
the  happy  coincidence  that  the  leaves  upon  the 
bridge  represent  bark  texture  and  the  subdued 
light  upon  its  near  end  creates  the  rotundity  of 
the  trunk  or  that  a  distant  tree  serves  as  the  hor- 
izontal margin  of  a  pool,  but  because  its  light 
and  shade  is  conceived  upon  the  terms  of  balance 
expressing  in  either  position  one  of  the  funda- 
mental forms  of  light  and  shade  and  lineal  con- 
struction, that  of  the  rectangle  in  either  light  or 
dark  together  with  an  oppositional  measure — the 
light  through  the  distant  trees. 

With  the  history  of  art  and  the  world's  gallery 
of  painting  spread  out  before  us,  we  may  take  a 
continuous  view  of  the  whole  field.  Leaving  out 
the  painters  of  the  experimental  era  let  us  begin 
with  the  great  masters  of  effect. 

Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  tells  us  it  was  his  habit  in 
looking  for  the  secrets  of  the  masters  of  paint- 
ing to  make  rough  pencil  notes  of  those  pic- 
tures that  attracted  him  by  their  power  of  effect 
as  he  passed  from  one  gallery  to  another.  He 
found  almost  all  of  them  revealed  a  broad  mid- 
dle tone  which  was  divided  again  into  half  dark 
and  half  light  tones,  and  these,  added  to  the 
accents  of  light  and  dark  made  five  distinct  tones. 
The  Venetian  painters  attracted  him  most  and, 
he  says,  speaking  of  Titian,  Paul  Veronese  and 
Tintoret,  "  they  appeared  to  be  the  first  painters 
who  reduced  to  a  system  what  was  before  prac- 
tised without  any  fixed  principle."  From  these 
[I57J 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

painters  he  declares  Rubens  extracted  his  scheme 
of  composition  which  was  soon  understood  and 
adopted  by  his  countrymen,  even  to  the  minor 
painters  of  low  life  in  the  Dutch  school. 

"  When  I  was  in  Venice,"  he  says,  "  the  method 
I  took  to  avail  myself  of  their  principle  was 
this  :  When  I  observed  an  extraordinary  effect  of 
light  and  shade  in  any  picture  I  darkened  every 
part  of  a  page  in  my  note-book  in  the  same  gra- 
dation of  light  and  shade  as  the  picture,  leaving 
the  white  paper  untouched  to  represent  light  and 
this  without  any  attention  to  the  subject  or  the 
drawing  of  the  figures.  A  few  trials  of  this  kind 
will  be  sufficient  to  give  the  method  of  their  con- 
duct in  the  management  of  their  lights.  After  a 
few  experiments  I  found  the  paper  blotted  nearly 
alike :  their  general  practice  appeared  to  be  to 
allow  not  above  a  quarter  of  the  picture  for  light, 
including  in  this  portion  both  the  principal  and 
secondary  lights  /  another  quarter  to  be  as  dark  as 
possible  and  the  remaining  half  kept  in  mezzo-tint 
or  half  shadow" 

u  Eubens  appears  to  have  admitted  rather  more 
light  than  a  quarter  and  Rembrandt  much  less, 
scarce  an  eighth ;  by  this  conduct  Rembrandt's 
light  is  extremely  brilliant,  but  it  costs  too  much ; 
the  rest  of  the  picture  is  sacrificed  to  this  one 
object.  That  light  will  certainly  appear  the 
brightest  which  is  surrounded  with  the  greatest 
quantity  of  shade,  supposing  equal  skill  in  the 
artist. 

"  By  this  means  you  may  likewise  remark  the 
various  forms  and  shapes  of  those  lights  as  well 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

as  the  objects  on  which  they  are  flung ;  whether 
a  figure,  or  the  sky,  a  white  napkin,  animals,  or 
utensils,  often  introduced  for  this  purpose  only. 
It  may  be  observed  likewise,  what  a  portion  is 
strongly  relieved  and  how  much  is  united  with 
its  ground;  for  it  is  necessary  that  some  part 
(though  a  small  one  is  sufficient)  should  be  sharp 
and  cutting  against  its  ground  whether  it  be 
light  on  dark,  or  dark  on  a  light  ground,  in  order 
to  give  firmness  and  distinctness  to  the  work. 
If,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  relieved  on  every  side, 
it  will  appear  as  if  inlaid  on  its  ground. 

"  Such  a  blotted  paper  held  at  a  distance  from 
the  eye  would  strike  the  spectator  as  something 
excellent  for  the  disposition  of  the  light  and 
shadow  though  he  does  not  distinguish  whether 
it  is  history,  a  portrait,  a  landscape,  dead  game, 
or  anything  else ;  for  the  same  principles  extend 
to  every  branch  of  art.  "Whether  I  have  given 
an  exact  account  or  made  a  just  division  of  the 
quantity  of  light  admitted  into  the  works  of 
those  painters  is  of  no  very  great  consequence ; 
let  every  person  examine  and  judge  for  himself : 
it  will  be  sufficient  if  I  have  suggested  a  mode  of 
examining  pictures  this  way  and  one  means  at 
least  of  acquiring  the  principles  on  which  they 
wrought." 

The  accompanying  page  of  sketches  has  been 
produced  in  the  spirit  of  this  recommendation. 

Turning  from  examples  of  figure  art,  to  out- 
door nature,  it  will  be  found  that  these  principles 
apply  with  equal  force  to  landscape  composition. 
No  better  advice  could  be  offered  the  beginner 
[159] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

in  landscape  than  to  resolutely  select  and  pro- 
duce three,  four  or  five  distinct  and  separate 
tones  in  every  study.  The  incoherency  of  begin- 
ner's work  out  of  doors  is  largely  due  to  its 
crumbling  into  a  great  number  of  petty  planes,  a 
fault  resulting  from  observation  of  detail  in- 
stead of  the  larger  shapes.  For  this  reason  the 
choice  of  subjects  having  little  or  no  detail 
should  be  insisted  on  :  sky  and  land,  a  chance  for 
organic  line  and  a  division  of  light  and  shade, 
such  as  may  be  found  in  an  open,  rolling  country 
where  the  woodland  is  grouped  for  distant 
masses. 

PRINCIPALITY  BY  EMPHASIS,  SACRIFICE,  AND 

CONTRAST. 

Under  the  discussion  of  Balance  it  was  shown 
that  a  small  measure  often  became  the  equiva- 
lent of  a  larger  measure  by  reason  of  its  particu- 
lar placement.  The  sacrifice  of  many  measures 
to  one,  also  is  often  the  wisest  disposition  of 
forces.  Upon  the  stage,  spectacular  arrangement 
is  constructed  almost  entirely  on  this  principle. 
The  greater  the  number  of  figures  supporting,  or 
sacrificing  to  the  central  figure,  the  greater  its 
importance.  The  sun  setting  over  fields  or 
through  the  woods  though  covering  but  a  very 
limited  measure  of  the  picture  is  what  we  see 
and  remember,  the  remaining  space  serving  this 
by  subordination.  Note  how  masters  of  land- 
scape reach  after  such  a  point  either  by  banking 
up  abruptly  about  it  as  in  the  wood  interior,  or 
by  vast  gradations  toward  it.  The  muzzle  of  the 
[160] 


NOTE-BOOK    SKETCHES   FROM    RUBENS,    VELASQUEZ,    CLAUDE    LORRAINE    AND 

MURRILLO 


SPOTS    AND    MASSES 


A  REVERSIBLE  EFFECT  OF  LIGHT  AND  SHADE 

The   Same  Subject  Vertically  and   Horizontally  Presented 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

cannon  is  the  only  place  where  the  fire  and 
smoke  are  seen,  but  how  much  weight  is  neces- 
sitated back  of  this  for  the  recoil,  and  how  much 
space  must  be  reckoned  on  for  the  projectile  of 
the  gun.  A  terrific  explosion  takes  place;  but 
we  do  not  realize  its  power  until  it  is  noted  that 
sound  reverberated  and  the  earth  trembled  for 
miles  around.  For  its  full  realization  the  report 
of  the  quiet  miles  is  important.  The  lack  of  this 
support  in  the  light  and  shade  scheme,  whereby 
the  principal  object  is  made  to  occupy  too  much 
space  is  one  of  the  commonest  of  faults  in  photog- 
raphy and  illustration. 

One  familiar  with  woodland  scenery  knows 
well  how  often  a  subject  is  lost  and  found  as  the 
course  of  the  sun  changes.  At  one  moment  a 
striking  composition  is  present,  the  highest  light 
giving  kingly  distinction  to  one  of  the  monarchs 
of  the  forest.  Passing  on  to  return  in  a  few 
minutes  one  looks  in  vain  for  the  subject.  He  is 
sure  of  the  particular  spot,  but  the  king  stands 
sullen  in  the  shadow,  robbed  of  his  golden  man- 
tle which  is  now  divided  to  bedeck  two  or  three 
striplings  in  the  background.  For  the  painter 
the  only  recourse  is  to  make  a  pencil  note  of  the 
original  scheme  of  light  and  shade  and  hold  reso- 
lutely to  it.  The  photographer  must  patiently 
wait  for  it. 

Says  Eeynolds : 

"  Every  man  that  can  paint  at  all  can  execute 

individual  parts ;  but  to  keep  these  parts  in  due 

subordination  as  relative  to  a  whole,  requires  a 

comprehensive  view  of  art  that  more  strongly 

[163] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

implies  genius  than  perhaps  any  quality  what- 
ever." 

No  more  forcible  examples  of  this  truth  may 
be  had  than  the  art  of  Claude  Lorraine.  Claude 
whose  nature  painting  Buskin  berates  but  whose 
composition  is  strong,  had  two  distinct  arrange- 
ments, both  based  on  the  principle  of  Principal- 
ity. In  the  first  he  created  sides  for  the  centre 
which  were  darkened  so  that  the  light  of  the 
centre  might  gain  by  contrast.  It  is  the  formal 
Raphaelesque  idea;  the  other  and  much  better 
one  shows  a  division  of  the  picture  into  thirds. 
The  first  division  is  given  to  the  largest  mass  but 
usually  not  the  most  important.  This,  if  trees 
or  a  building,  is  shadow  covered,  reserving  the 
more  distant  mass,  which  is  the  most  attractive, 
to  gain  by  the  sacrifice  of  the  foreground  mass. 

The  first  of  these  forms  was  evidently  most 
esteemed  by  Claude,  for  his  greatest  works  are 
thus  conceived :  "  Cleopatra  Landing  at  Tarsus," 
"  The  Embarkation  of  the  Queen  of  Sheba,"  see 
page  161.  "  The  Flight  into  Egypt,"  "  St.  Paul 
leaving  Ostia,"  "The  Seaport  with  the  Large 
Tower  "  and  others.  In  all  of  these  the  light 
proceeds  toward  us  through  an  avenue  which 
the  sides  create.  Under  this  effect  we  receive 
the  light  as  it  comes  to  us.  In  the  other  form 
the  vision  is  carried  into  the  picture  by  a  series 
of  mass  attractions  the  balance  being  less 
apparent.  "The  Landscape  of  the  Dresden 
Gallery,"  "The  Marriage  of  Isaac  and  Re- 
becca," "  The  Finding  of  Moses,"  "  Egeria  and 
Her  Nymphs,"  and  "Driving  Cattle  to  the 
[164] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

Meadows,"  together  with  many  etchings,  are 
based  on  the  second  form.  In  all  these  about 
one  third  of  the  picture  is  put  into  shadow,  a 
great  right  angle  being  constructed  of  the  ver- 
tical mass  and  the  shadow  which  it  casts,  gener- 
ally across  the  entire  foreground. 

In  "The  Travel  of  the  Soul"  by  Howard 
Pyle,  reproduced  from  the  Century  Magazine, 
is  remarkably  expressed  the  fullness  of  quality 
resulting  from  these  few  principles.  The  force 
of  the  light  is  increased  first  by  juxtaposition 
with  the  deepest  dark  merging  so  gradually  into 
the  darkness  behind  as  to  become  the  end  or 
culmination  of  the  great  gradation  of  the  back- 
ground. As  in  many  works  by  the  older  masters 
the  source  of  light  is  conceived  within  the  pic- 
ture, so  by  its  issuance  from  the  inward  of  the 
wing,  the  valuable  principle  of  radiation  has  re- 
sulted, the  light  passing  upward  through  the 
wan  face  behind  to  the  crescent  moon  and  below 
through  the  sleeve  and  long  fold  of  the  dress  to 
the  ground.  On  the  side  it  follows  the  arm  dis- 
appearing through  the  fingers  into  the  shadow. 

Beyond  this  circuit  lies  the  great  encasement 
of  another  gradation  darkening  toward  the  sides 
and  corners.  This  has  been  interrupted  by  the 
tree  masses  and  sky  of  the  upper  side,  as  the 
idea  of  radiation  was  changed  on  the  left  by  the 
oppositional  line  of  branch  forms.  In  the  other 
pictures  of  this  remarkable  series  may  be  found 
three  distinct  type  forms  of  composition. 

Together  they  set  forth  the  structure  of  the 
circle  or  ellipse,  the  letter  S  or  line  of  beauty, 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

the  triangle,  and  the  cross.  The  one  before  us 
discloses  a  triangle  or  letter  V,  on  which  the 
figures  compose,  within  a  triangle  formed  of  the 
rock  fracture  and  path. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  the  effort  of  the 
artist  is  to  secure  light  in  the  degree  which  his 
subject  demands.  There  are  many  degrees  of 
light  and  they  must  not  be  confounded.  The 
light  of  a  lantern  is  not  sufficient  illumination  for 
an  effect  under  gas  and  a  window  on  the  north 
side  won't  do  to  call  sunlight  into  a  room  upon  a 
posed  figure.  The  fault  of  many  pictures  is  that 
the  proprieties  just  here  are  violated.  Some  of 
the  lowest  toned  interiors  of  Israels  are  satis- 
factory when  judged  from  the  standpoint  of 
light,  while  out  of  door  attempts  in  high  key 
fail  to  suggest  the  fact  of  a  sun  in  nature.  The 
fault  is  that  the  exact  degree  of  illumination 
which  the  subject  demands  is  not  present. 

There  may  be  a  greater  feeling  of  light  in  a 
figure  setting  in  the  shadow  than  in  the  same 
figure  next  to  a  window. 

To  the  painter,  light  and  air  are  but  degrees  of 
the  same  idea.  If  the  figure  seated  in  the  shadow 
is  well  enveloped  and  relieved  by  the  exact  temper 
of  reflected  lights,  it  takes  its  place  in  his  scheme 
of  brilliant  lighting  as  much  as  any  other  part. 

The  purpose  of  shadow  is  first  to  produce 
light,  second  to  secure  concentration,  third  to 
dismiss  space  not  required  and  incidentally  to 
suggest  air  and  relief  by  the  gradation  which 
every  shadow  must  have. 

The  idea  of  Notan,  or  the  Light  and  Dark 
[166] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

combination  of  Japanese  art,  differs  from  this  in 
its  intent,  which  is  merely  to  set  forth  an  agree- 
able interchange  of  light,  dark  and  medium  toned 
spaces.  To  the  decorative  intentions  of  the  ori- 
ental artist  natural  fact  is  of  small  concern  and 
the  fact  of  shade  produced  by  light  is  dismissed  as 
are  many  other  notions  which  are  non-conform- 
able to  his  purpose.  The  great  value  of  this 
concept,  however,  should  be  recognized,  and 
in  formulating  a  scheme  of  light  and  shade  for 
any  picture  its  light  and  dark  masses  may  be  so 
arranged  as  to  suggest  much  of  the  beauty  which 
its  flat  translation  by  Notan  would  yield.  The 
practice  of  laying  'out  the  flat  light  and  dark 
scheme  of  every  picture  which  is  to  be  finished 
in  full  relief  is  therefore  most  helpful,  and 
directly  in  line  with  Sir  Joshua's  habit  with  the 
old  masters. 

It  is  not  sufficient  that  pictures  have  lights 
and  darks.  The  balance  here  is  quite  as  im- 
portant as  line  and  measure.  The  proportion 
of  light  to  dark  depends  on  the  importance 
required  by  certain  parts  of  the  picture.  Ef- 
fectiveness is  given  to  that  end  of  the  scale 
which  is  reserved  in  small  quantity.  The  white 
spot  attracts  in  the  "  Dead  Warrior,"  the  dark  spot 
in  the  "  Lion  of  the  Desert."  A  comparison  of 
the  "Night  Watch"  and  the  "Landscape"  by 
Inness  will  show  that  both  are  constructed  on  a 
medium  tone  on  which  strong  relief  is  secured  by 
contrasts  of  light  and  dark.  Isolated  spots  occur 
through  each  contributing  an  energy  opposed  to 
the  subtle  gradations  of  the  large  spaces.  The 
[  167  ] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

rich  depths  of  the  background  and  the  frequent 
opposition  of  shadow  with  light  in  the  landscape 
are  very  typical  of  Inness'  art  and  we  know  that 
the  "  Night  "Watch  "  contains  the  best  thought 
and  richest  conclusions  of  the  greatest  master  of 
light  and  shade. 

The  type  forms  in  light  and  shade  are  less  pro- 
nounced than  those  of  linear  construction,  though 
through  all  compositions  of  effect,  certain  well 
defined  schemes  of  chiaroscuro  are  traceable. 
As  soon  as  any  one  is  selected  it  rests  with  the 
artist  to  vary  its  conventional  structure  and 
make  it  original. 

Lack  of  a  well-defined  scheme  of  light  and 
dark  however,  is  ruinous  to  any  pictorial  or 
decorative  undertaking. 

The  accompanying  wood  interiors  are  intro- 
duced in  proof  that  light  and  shade  rather 
than  form  is  the  pictorial  element  of  greatest 
value.  In  both  pictures  the  principles  of  chiaros- 
curo are  strongly  expressed,  and  we  look  closely 
before  discovering  that  the  first  one  is  the  second 
placed  on  end. 

Analysis  of  pictures  into  light,  dark,  and  half- 
tone develops  the  following  forms. 

GRADATION. 

Light  being  the  happy  and  positive  side  of  art 
presentation,  any  form  or  modification  of  it  par- 
takes of  its  quality.  The  gradation  bespeaks  its 
tenderness,  and,  much  as  we  may  admire  light's 
power,  this,  by  its  mere  variety,  is  more  attract- 
ive. 

[168] 


1.  LIGHT  AND  DARK 

2.  WHISTLER'S  PORTRAIT  OF 

His  MOTHER 

3.  Low  TIDE — C.  A.  Palmer 


4.  LIGHT  WITH  DARK  COMPLEMENT 

5.  MOORLAND  —  E.   Yon 

6.  CHARCOAL  STUDY  —  Millet 


7.  DARK  WITH  LIGHT  COMPLEMENT 

8.  TWILIGHT  STUDY 

9.  THE  ARBOR  —  Ferrier 

FUNDAMENTAL  FORMS  OF  CHIAROSCURO 


17  '* 

10.  DARK  TO  LIGHT — GRADATION        13.  GREY  WITH  BLACK  AND  WHITE 

11.  LANDSCAPE — Geo.  Inness  COMPLEMENT 

12.  THE  KITCHEN —  Whistler  14.  ST.  ANGELA  —  Robt.  Reid 

15.  AN  ANNAM  TIGER  —  Surrand 

1 6.  BLACK  AND  WHITE  WITH  GREY  COMPLEMENT 

17.  THE  SHRINE  —  Orchardson 

1 8.  MONASTIC  LIFE — F.  V.  Du  Mond 


FUNDAMENTAL  FORMS  OF  CHIAROSCURO— CONTINUED 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

"We  well  endure  the  shadow  if  in  it  can  be  no- 
ticed a  movement  toward  the  light.  Technically, 
an  ungraded  shadow  means  mud.  One  in  which 
reflection  plays  a  part  speaks  of  the  life  of  light 
and  in  it  we  feel  that  promise.  "We  know  it  to 
be  on  its  travels,  glancing  and  refracting  from 
every  object  which  it  touches.  The  shadows 
which  it  cannot  penetrate  directly,  receive  its 
gracious  influence  in  this  way  and  always  under 
a  subtler  law  which  governs  its  direct  shining — 
by  gradation. 

Most  good  pictures  are  produced  in  the  medium 
range  and  the  ends  of  the  scale  are  reserved  for 
incisive  duty.  A  series  of  gradations  in  which 
the  grace  and  flow  of  line  and  tone  are  made  to 
serve  the  forcible  stroke  which  we  see,  presents 
a  combination  of  subtlety  and  strength.  Again 
the  art  of  Inness  affords  illustration. 

There  are  three  forms  of  this  quality :  that  in 
which  light  shows  a  gradual  diminution  of 
power,  as  seen  upon  a  wall  near  a  window,  or  in 
white  smoke  issuing  from  a  funnel ;  that  in 
which  the  color  or  force  of  a  group  of  objects 
weaken  as  they  recede,  as  may  be  observed  in 
fog ;  and  that  in  which  the  arrangement  secures, 
in  disconnected  objects  a  regular  succession  of 
graded  measures.  In  each  case  the  pictorial 
value  of  this  element  is  apparent.  The  landscape 
painter  may  avail  himself  of  it  as  the  figure 
painter  does  of  his  screen,  counting  on  the  cloud 
shadow  to  temper  and  unite  disjointed  items  of 
his  picture.  He  makes  use  of  it  where  leading 
lines  are  wanting  or  are  undesirable,  or  to  give 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

an  additional  accent  to  light  by  such  contrast  or 
to  introduce  a  note  of  dark  by  suppressing  the 
tone  of  an  isolated  object.  Gradation  is  the 
sweetening  touch  in  art,  ofttimes  making  unity 
of  discordant  and  unartful  elements.  The  vision 
will  pierce  the  shadow  to  find  the  light  beyond. 
It  will  dwell  longest  on  the  lightest  point  and 
believe  this  more  brilliant  than  it  is  if  opposed 
by  an  accent  of  dark  which  is  the  lowest  note  in 
a  dark  gradation. 

Turner  and  Claude  often  brought  the  highest 
light  and  deepest  dark  together  in  close  oppo- 
sition through  a  series  of  big  gradations  of  ob- 
jects, the  most  light  giving  device  known  in 
painting.  The  introduction  of  a  shadow  through 
the  foreground  or  middle  distance,  over  which 
the  vision  travels  to  the  light  beyond,  always 
gives  great  depth ;  another  of  the  devices  in 
landscape  painting  frequently  met  with  in  the 
work  of  Claude,  Kuysdael,  Nolpe,  Yandevelde, 
Cuyp,  Inness,  Wyant,  Kanger,  and  all  painters 
of  landscape  who  attain  light  by  the  use  of  a 
graded  scale  of  contrasts.  A  cumulative 
gradation  which  suddenly  stops  has  the  same 
force  in  light  and  shade  as  a  long  line  which 
suddenly  changes  into  a  short  line  of  opposed 
direction.  They  are  both  equivalent  to  a  pause 
in  music,  awakening  an  attention  at  such  a  point, 
and  only  to  be  employed  where  there  is  some- 
thing important  to  follow. 

It  is  the  experience  of  all  picture  makers  that 
under  the  limitations  which  special  subjects  im- 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

pose  they  are  often  obliged  to  search  for  an 
equivalent  with  which  to  comply  with  the  re- 
quirements of  composition. 

If,  for  instance,  in  the  arrangement  of  a  picture 
it  is  found  necessary  to  move  an  object — a  tree, 
figure  or  other  item  of  importance,  instead  of  ob- 
literation and  repainting,  the  result  is  attained  by 
creating  an  attraction  on  the  opposite  side  from 
the  direction  it  is  to  be  moved. 

By  so  doing  the  range  of  the  picture  is  in- 
creased and  its  space  seems  to  take  in  more  than 
its  limits  presupposed  :  If  an  isolated  tree  stand- 
ing against  a  mass  of  trees,  by  opening  the  sky 
through  that  mass  or  by  creating  attraction  of 
color  or  form  therein,  the  vision  is  led  to  the  far 
side  of  the  object  to  be  moved,  which  is  thereby 
crowded  out  of  its  position  in  the  balancing 
scheme. 

An  object  upon  a  surface  may  frequently  give 
place  to  a  dark  or  light  variation  of  the  surface 
itself  which  becomes  an  equivalent  of  attrac- 
tion. 

Several  objects  may  be  made  to  balance  with- 
out rearrangement  though  the  marginal  propor- 
tions of  the  picture  are  altered.  The  ship  and 
moon  compose  as  an  upright,  but  not  in  long 
shape  without  either  the  following  line  which 
indicates  the  ship's  course ;  or  an  object  of  at- 
traction in  the  opposing  half  either  in  the  dis- 
tance or  foreground,  much  less  being  required  in 
the  latter  than  the  former.  The  equivalent 
therefore  of  the  leading  line  is  the  object  on  the 
farther  shore. 

[173] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

The  necessity  of  either  the  one  or  the  other  is 
more  clearly  shown  when  the  line  from  the  boat 
swings  in  the  opposite  direction.  (See  page 
39.) 

The  above  are  but  samples  of  the  countless 
substitutions  enabling  the  artist  to  redeem  faulty 
composition  upon  the  sliding  scale  of  attraction. 


[174] 


HILLSIDE 

Graded  Light  Upon  Surfaces.     Cloud  Shadows 


RIVER  FOG 

Light  Graded  by  Atmospheric  Density 


THE  CHANT 

Gradation  by  Color  Values  of  Separated  Objects 


DEATH  OF  CAESAR — Gerdme 


Century  Magazine 

THE  TRAVEL  OF  THE  SOUL  —  After  Howard  Pyle 


CHAPTEK  XI 

THE  PLACE  OF  PHOTOGRAPHY  IN  FINE  AKT 

SINCE  the  time  that  photography  laid  its  claim 
to  be  reckoned  among  the  fine  arts  the  attention 
of  artists  has  been  attracted  first  by  the  claim 
and  thereafter,  with  acknowledgments,  to  the 
performance. 

The  art  cry  of  the  newly  baptized  had  the 
vehement  ring  of  faith  and  determination.  Like 
the  prophecy  of  the  embryo  premier  it  sounded : 
"  My  lords,  you  will  hear  me  yet." 

The  sustained  interest  of  the  "  Photographic 
Salon  "  and  the  utterance  of  its  exhibitors  in  the 
language  of  art,  has  long  since  obtained  conces- 
sion to  the  claim  for  associate  membership.  To 
make  this  relationship  complete  became  the 
effort  of  many  writers  of  the  photographic  circle. 
"The  whole  point  then,"  writes  Prof.  P.  H. 
Emerson,  B.  A.,  H.  D.,  of  England,  "  is  that  what 
the  painter  strives  to  do  is  to  render,  by  any 
means  in  his  power,  as  true  an  impression  of  any 
picture  which  he  wishes  to  express  as  possible. 
A  photographic  artist  strives  for  the  same  end 
and  in  two  points  only  does  he  fall  short  of  the 
painter — in  color  and  in  the  ability  to  render  so 
accurately  the  relative  values,  although  this  is  to 
a  great  extent  compensated  by  the  tone  of  the 
picture.  How  then  is  photography  superior  to 
etching,  wood-cutting,  charcoal  drawing?  The 
[  W] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

drawing  of  the  lens  is  not  to  be  equalled  by  any 
man.  There  is  ample  room  for  selection,  judg- 
ment and  posing,  and,  in  a  word,  in  capable 
hands  a  finished  photograph  is  a  work  of  art. 
Thus  we  see  that  the  art  has  at  last  found  a  scien- 
tific basis  and  can  be  rationally  discussed,  and  I 
think  I  am  right  in  saying  that  I  was  the  first  to 
base  the  claims  of  photography  as  a  fine  art  on 
these  grounds  and  I  venture  to  predict  that 
the  day  will  come  when  photographs  will  be  ad- 
mitted to  hang  on  the  walls  of  the  Koyal 
Academy." 

Since  the  appearance  of  the  above  which  comes 
as  close  to  the  real  reason  in  question  as  its  logic 
might  intimate,  but  which  is  worth  quoting 
from  the  prophecy  which  it  contained,  there 
have  been  many  expressions  of  opinions  by 
photographers.  None,  however,  are  more  to  the 
point  than  the  following  from  the  pen  of  Mr.  F. 
H.  Wilson :  "  "When,  fifty  years  ago,  the  new 
baby,  photography,  was  born,  Science  and  Art 
stood  together  over  her  cradle  questioning  what 
they  might  expect  of  her,  wondering  what  place 
she  would  take  among  their  other  children. 
Science  soon  found  that  she  had  come  with  her 
hands  full  of  gifts  and  her  bounty  to  astronomy, 
microscopy  and  chemistry  made  her  name  blessed 
among  these,  her  elder  sisters.  Art,  always  more 
conservative,  hung  back.  But  slowly  jealous  Art 
who  first  frowned  and  called  the  rest  of  her 
brood  around  her,  away  from  the  parvenue,  has 
let  her  come  near,  has  taken  her  hand,  and  is 
looking  her  over  with  questioning  eyes.  Soon, 
[178] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

without  doubt,  she  will  have  her  on  her  lap  with 
the  rest. 

"  Why  has  she  been  kept  out  so  long  ?  Almost 
from  the  beginning  she  claimed  a  place  in  the 
house  beautiful  of  art.  In  spite  of  rebuffs 
she  knocked  at  its  doors,  though  the  portrait 
painter  and  the  critic  flung  stones  at  her  from 
the  house-top,  and  the  law  itself  stood  at  the 
threshold  denying  her  entrance.  Those  early 
efforts  were  not  untinctured  with  a  fear  that  if 
she  should  get  in  she  would  run  the  establish- 
ment, but  the  law  long  since  owned  her  right, 
and  instead  of  the  crashing  boulders  of  artistic 
dislike  and  critical  indignation  the  volleys  they 
drop  at  her  feet  now  are  mere  mossy  pebbles 
flung  by  similarly  mossy  critics  or  artist-bigots. 
Still,  the  world  at  large  hears  them  rattle  and 
does  not  give  her  the  place  and  estimation  she 
has  won. 

"  Art  began  with  the  first  touch  of  man  to  shape 
things  toward  his  ideal,  be  that  ideal  an  agreeable 
composition,  or  the  loftiest  conception  of  genius. 
The  higher  it  is  the  more  it  is  art.  Art  is  head- 
and-hand  work  and  a  creation  deserves  the  name 
of  art  according  to  the  quality  and  quantity  of 
this  expended  on  it.  Simply  sit  down  squarely 
before  a  thing  and  imitate  it  as  an  ox  would  if 
an  ox  could  draw,  with  no  thought  or  intention 
save  imitation  and  the  result  will  cry  from  every 
line,  '  I  am  not  art  but  machine  work,'  though 
its  technique  be  perfection.  Toil  over  arrange- 
ment and  meditate  over  view-point  and  light, 
and  though  the  result  be  the  rudest,  it  will  bear 
[ 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

the  impress  of  thought  and  of  art.  I  tell  you  art 
begins  when  man  with  thought,  forming  a  stand- 
ard of  beauty,  commences  to  shape  the  raw 
material  toward  it.  In  pure  landscape,  where 
modification  is  limited,  it  begins  when  the  artist 
takes  one  standpoint  in  preference  to  another. 
In  figure  composition,  where  modification  is 
infinite,  it  begins  with  the  first  touch  to  bring 
the  model  into  pose.  "When  he  bends  a  twig  or 
turns  a  fold  of  drapery  the  spirit  of  art  has 
come  and  is  stirring  within  him.  "What  matters 
the  process !  Surely  it  is  time  that  this  artistic 
bigotry  was  ended." 

The  kernel  lies  in  the  sentence  "  when  he  bends 
a  twig,"  etc.,  "  the  spirit  of  art  has  come."  In 
other  words  when  he  exhibits  choice  and  prefer- 
ence, when,  in  short,  he  composes. 

Kecognizing  that  composition  was  the  only 
portal  through  which  the  new  candidate  for  art 
recognition  could  gain  an  entrance  into  the  circle 
of  Art,  the  single  effort  of  the  past  photog- 
rapher, viz. ;  the  striving  for  detail  and  sharpness 
of  line,  has  been  relegated  to  its  reasonable  place. 
A  comprehension  of  composition  was  found  to 
demand  the  knowledge  of  a  score  of  things 
which  then  by  necessity  were  rapidly  discovered, 
applied  and  installed.  Composition  means  sacri- 
fice, gradation,  concentration,  accent,  oblitera- 
tion, replacement,  construction  of  things  the 
plate  does  not  have,  destruction  of  what  it  should 
not  have. 

Supplied    with    such   a  magician's  wand  no 
effect  was  denied :  all  things  seemed  possible. 
[180] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

Gratified  by  recognition  in  a  new  realm  the 
new  associations  should  be  strengthened. 
Whereas  photography  had  been  spanned  by  the 
simple  compass  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  A.  and  their 
daughter,  in  figures;  or  topographical  accura- 
cies in  landscape,  revellers  in  the  new  art  talked 
of  Kembrandt  and  Titian,  Corot  and  Diaz.  To 
do  something  which  should  put  their  art  in  touch 
with  these,  their  new-found  brethren,  was  the 
thing !  A  noble  ambition,  but  only  a  mistaking 
of  the  effect  for  the  cause.  These  men  composed. 
The  blurred  outline,  the  vacant  shadow,  the  sup- 
pressed corners,  the  clipped  edges.  This  all 
means  composition  in  the  subduing  of  insistent 
outline,  in  the  exchange  of  breadth  for  detail,  in 
the  centralization  of  light,  in  the  suppression  of 
the  unnecessary. 

But  no,  the  employment  of  these  devices  of 
the  painter  from  the  photographer's  point  of 
view  of  composition  is  not  sufficient.  Photog- 
raphy is  now  busy  complimenting  every  school 
of  painting  under  the  sun.  Yesterday  it  was 
Kembrandt's  school.  Now  that  is  passed,  and 
Carriere  is  better  and  to-morrow,  perchance,  it 
will  be  Kaphael  or  Whistler  or  some  Japanese, 
why  not  ? 

The  one  and  only  good  sign  which  marks  imi- 
tation is  that  it  shows  appreciation,  and  this  of 
the  standards  is  a  good  thing.  Let  each  have  its 
turn.  Their  synthesis  may  be  you. 

But  to  a  man  of  the  professions  or  business 
whose  time  for  study  in  these  vast  fields  of  the 
classics  is  so  disproportionate  to  their  extent 
[181] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

and  who,  though  supplied  with  search  warrants 
and  summons,  still  fails  to  make  a  capture,  how 
ineffectual  and  wearying  this  chase  after  ideals 
— subjective.  Why  not  shorten  your  course? 
Why  not  produce  Kembrandts  and  Corots  be- 
cause you  apprehend  the  principles  on  which 
they  work  and  anticipate  a  surprise  in  discover- 
ing, as  by  chance,  that  you  have  produced  some- 
thing which  recalls  them.  In  this  way  and  by 
these  means  there  will  be  meaning  in  your  claim 
of  brotherhood. 

One  may  scarcely  call  an  estimate  in  art  mat- 
ters complete  without  an  opinion  from  Mr.  Rus- 
kin.  "In  art  we  look  for  a  record  of  man's 
thought  and  power,  but  photography  gives 
that  only  in  quite  a  secondary  degree.  Every 
touch  of  a  great  painting  is  instinct  with  feel- 
ing, but  howsoever  carefully  the  objects  of  a 
picture  be  chosen  and  grouped  by  the  photo- 
grapher, there  his  interference  ends.  It  is  not  a 
mere  matter  of  color  or  no  color,  but  of  Inven- 
tion and  Design,  of  Feeling  and  Imagination. 
Photography  is  a  matter  of  ingenuity :  Art  of 
genius." 

On  these  lines  however  the  philosopher  of 
Coniston  hardly  proves  his  case. 

Invention  and  design,  feeling  and  imagination 
are  all  a  part  of  the  photographer's  suite.  He 
employs  them  all.  And  these  too  are  qualities 
the  most  artistic.  Technique,  which  is  manual 
and  not  spiritual,  is  the  one  point  at  which  art 
and  photography  cannot  coalesce.  To  Art's  sen- 
tient finger-tips,  Photography  holds  up  only  steel, 
[182] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

wood  and  glass.  Art  therefore  holds  the  win- 
ning cards. 

P.  G.  Hamerton,  England's  safest  and  surest 
critic  of  art,  writing  a  generation  ago  on  the 
"  Relation  between  Photography  and  Painting," 
says :  "  But  all  good  painting,  however  literal, 
however  pre-Raphaelite  or  topographic,  is  full  of 
human  feeling  and  emotion.  If  it  has  no  other 
feeling  in  it  than  love  or  admiration  for  the 
place  depicted,  that  is  much  already,  quite 
enough  to  carry  the  picture  out  of  the  range  of 
photography  into  the  regions  of  real  art. 

And  this  is  the  reason  why  good  painting  can- 
not be  based  on  photography.  I  find  photo- 
graphic data  of  less  value  than  hasty  sketches. 
The  photograph  renders  the  form  truly,  no 
doubt,  as  far  as  it  goes,  but  it  by  no  means 
renders  feelings  and  is  therefore  of  no  practical 
use  (save  for  reference)  to  a  painter  who  feels 
habitually  and  never  works  without  emotion." 

It  is  very  much  to  be  questioned  if  Mr.  Hamer- 
ton in  the  face  of  what  has  since  been  done  with 
the  camera  by  men  who  feel  and  are  led  by  the 
emotional  in  art,  would  claim  a  distinction  to  the 
painter  and  deny  that  the  photographic  product 
was  unaffected  by  the  emotional  temperament. 

A  friend  shows  us  a  group  of  his  pets,  either 
dogs,  horses  or  children,  done  by  an  "artist 
photographer."  We  find  it  strongly  composed, 
evincing  a  clear  knowledge  of  every  point  to  be 
observed  in  extracting  from  the  subject  all  the 
picturesqueness  there  was  in  it.  We  notice  a 
soft  painter-like  touch,  shadows  not  detailed — 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

simply  graded — aerial  envelopment  everywhere 
suggested. 

It  would  be  pedantry  for  the  painter  to  correct 
the  expression  of  his  friend  and  suggest  that  the 
man  who  produced  the  picture  was  not  an  artist. 
It  is  the  product  of  a  man  who  felt  exactly  as  an 
artist  would  have  felt;  an  expression  of  views 
upon  a  subject  entirely  governed  by  the  principles 
of  art,  and  the  man  who  made  it,  by  that  sym- 
pathy which  he  exhibits  with  those  principles,  is 
my  brother  in  art  to  a  greater  degree  than  the 
painter  who,  with  youthful  arrogance,  throws 
these  to  the  winds  "mistaking,"  as  has  been 
cleverly  said,  "  the  will-o'-the-wisp  of  eccentricity 
for  the  miracle  working  impulse  of  genius."  In 
whatsoever  degree  more  of  the  man  and  less  of 
the  mechanic  appears,  in  that  degree  is  the  result 
a  work  of  art. 

The  reliance  of  photography  on  composition 
has  provoked  an  earnest  search  for  its  principles. 
The  photographer  felt  safe  in  going  to  the  school 
of  painting  for  these  principles  and  accepted 
without  question  the  best  book  written  for  paint- 
ers, that  by  John  Burnet,  penned  more  than  a 
century  ago  at  a  time  when  the  art  of  England 
was  at  a  low  imitative  ebb,  and  unduly  influenced 
by  imitation.  This  has  been  abundantly  quoted 
by  photographic  teachers  and  evidently  accepted, 
with  little  challenge,  as  final. 

The  best  things,  discoverable  to  the  writer,  in 
the  field  of  composition,  have  been  by  the  photog- 
raphers themselves — the  best  things  as  well  as 
the  most  inane ;  but  in  the  face  of  so  many  re- 
[184] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

suits  that  earnest  workers  with  the  camera  pro- 
duce and  continue  to  put  forth,  which  cannot 
find  a  place  in  the  categories  of  Art,  it  would 
seem  that  these  preachments  have  been  un- 
heeded, or  were  not  sufficiently  clear  to  afford 
practical  guidance  for  whom  they  were  intended. 
Mr.  P.  H.  Kobinson  declares  most  strenuously  for 
composition.  "It  is  my  contention,"  he  says, 
"that  one  of  the  first  things  an  artist  should 
learn  is  the  construction  of  a  picture."  On  a  par 
with  this  is  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Arthur  Dow,  the 
artist,  who  declares  that  "  art  education  should 
begin  at  composition." 

It  is  for  lack  of  this  that  the  searcher  for  the 
picturesque  so  frequently  returns  empty  handed. 


The  Esthetics  of  Composition 


PART  II 

Breadth   Versus    Detail 


CHAPTER  XII 

SUBJECTIVELY  the  painter  and  the  photog- 
rapher stretch  after  the  same  goal. 

Technically  they  approach  it  from  opposite  di- 
rections. 

The  painter  starts  with  a  bare  surface  and  cre- 
ates detail,  the  photographer  is  supplied  there- 
with. 

Art  lies  somewhere  between  these  starting 
points  ;  for  art  is  a  reflection  of  an  idea  and  ideas 
may  or  may  not  have  to  do  with  detail. 

According  to  the  subject  then  is  the  matter  of 
detail  to  serve  us.  In  the  expression  of  character 
a  certain  amount  of  detail  is  indispensable ;  by 
the  painter  to  be  produced,  by  the  photographer 
saved.  But  detail  is  often  so  beautiful  in  itself ! 
and  is  not  art  a  presentation  of  the  beautiful, 
pleads  the  photographer.  And  the  reply  in  the 
Socratic  method  is:  "Look  at  the  whole  sub- 
ject :  does  the  idea  of  it  demand  this  detail  ?  " 

The  untutored  mind  always  sees  detail.  For 
this  reason  most  education  is  inductive,  but 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

though  the  process  is  inductive,  the  goal  is  the 
eternal  synthesis.  It  is  the  reporter  who  gathers 
the  facts :  the  editor  winnows  therefrom  the 
moral. 

The  artist  must — in  time — get  on  top  and  take 


this  survey.  Looking  at  any  subject  with  e}7ea 
half  closed  enables  him  to  see  it  without  detail, 
and  later,  with  eyes  slowly  opening,  admitting 
that  much  only  which  is  necessary  to  character. 

The  expression  of  character  by  masses  of  black 
and  white  proves  this.  Bishop  Potter  is  unmis- 
takable, his  features  bounded  by  their  shadows. 
From  such  a  start  then  it  is  a  question  of  pro- 
cedure cautiously  to  that  point  where  the  greatest 
character  lies,  but  beyond  which  point  detail  be- 
comes unnecessary  to  character. 

The  pen  portrait  of  Thackeray  by  Kobt.  Blum  is 
a  careful  delineation  of  the  characteristic  head  of 
the  novelist  set  on  shoulders  characteristically 
bent  forward  and  the  body  characteristically 
tall.  "What  more  can  be  told  of  Thackeray's  per- 
[I88J 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

sonality  ?  Would  the  buttons  and  the  wrinkles 
of  the  clothing  help  matters !  No,  as  facts  they 
•would  not,  and  when  art  has  to  do  only  with 
character,  the  simplest  statement  is  the  most 
forcible. 

Millet,  at  one  time,  was  known  as  "  the  man 
who  painted  peasants  without  wrinkles  in  their 
breeches."  Not  because  wrinkles  were  too  hard 
for  him,  nor  because  they  were  not  thought 
worth  while,  but  because,  in  his  effort  to  prune 
his  picture  of  the  unessentials,  the  wrinkles  were 
brushed  aside. 

When,  however,  art  has  to  do  with  filling  an 
entire  space  with  something,  and  the  clothing 
occupies  a  considerable  part  of  it,  what  shall  be 
done  ?  This  changes  the  details  of  the  question, 
yet  of  all  portraits  that  hit  hard  in  exhibitions 
are  those  conceived  in  simplicity,  those  in  which 
the  personality  is  what  stops  and  holds  us. 

There  are  certain  large  organic  lines  of  drapery 
which  the  character  demands,  but  beyond  this 
point  opinion  divides  authoritatively  from  the 
complete  silence  of  obliteration  to  the  tumultuous 
noisiness  of  "  the  whole  truth." 

In  the  portraits  by  Carreire  all  detail  is  swept 
away,  and  the  millinery  artists  are  shocked. 
Simplicity  should  never  compromise  texture  and 
quality.  This  side  of  the  truth  cannot  prove 
objectionable. 

"  You   have  made  my  broadcloth  look  like 

two-fifty  a  yard  and  it  really  cost  four,"  was  a 

criticism  offered  by  a  young  lady  who  posed  in  a 

riding   habit.     Such   practical   criticism  is  fre- 

[  189] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

quently  necessary  to  bring  the  artist  down  from 
the  top  height  observatory  where  he  is  absorbed 
with  "  the  big  things." 

Breath  does  not  signify  neglect  of  detail  or 
neglect  of  finish ;  it  means  simplification  where 
unity  had  been  threatened.  It  is  seeing  the  big 
side  of  small  things,  if  the  small  things  cannot 
be  ignored. 

The  lighting  of  a  subject  has  much  to  do  with 
its  breadth.  A  light  may  be  selected  that  will 
chop  such  a  well  organized  unit  as  the  body  into 
three  or  four  separate  sections,  or  one  that  pro- 
duces an  equal  division  of  light  and  shade — seldom 
good.  Shadows  are  generally  the  hiding-places 
for  mystery ;  and  mystery  is  ever  charming. 
None  better  than  Rembrandt  knew  the  value  of 
those  vague  spaces  of  nothingness,  in  back- 
grounds, and  in  the  figure  itself,  a  sudden  pitch 
from  light  and  positiveness  into  conjecture.  We 
hear  in  photography  much  of  the  "  Rembrandt- 
esque  effect,"  which  when  produced,  proves  to  be 
just  blackness.  There  can  be  no  shadow  without 
light,  and  Rembrandt's  effort  was  to  obtain  this, 
rather  than  produce  darkness. 

The  feeling  of  light  may  also  be  broadly  ex- 
pressed by  a  direct  illumination.  Here  the 
shadow  plays  a  very  small  part,  and  the  subject 
is  presented  in  its  outline.  Under  such  an  effect 
we  lose  variety  but  gain  simplicity.  .  This  brings 
us  close  to  the  region  of  two  dimensions,  the 
realm  of  Japanese  art  and  mural  decoration. 
The  portraits  of  Manet,  the  decorations  of  Puvis 
de  Chavannes,  and  the  early  Italians,  display  the 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

quality  of  breadth  because  of  the  simplicity  of 
lighting  which  these  subjects  received. 

Breadth  in  the  treatment  of  the  figure  may  be 
obtained  by  graded  light.  If  a  shadow  be  pro- 
duced at  the  bottom  of  the  picture  sufficiently 
strong  to  obliterate  both  the  light  and  shade  of 
detail,  and  thence  be  made  to  weaken  as  it  pro- 
ceeds upward  and  finally  give  place  to  light, 
where  light  is  most  needed,  great  simplicity  as 
well  as  the  element  of  variety  will  be  the  result. 

Thus,  in  the  most  effective  treatment  in  mural 
decoration,  one  sees  only  the  grand  forms,  the 
movement,  the  intention,  those  things  which  most 
befit  the  inner  surface  of  the  building  being  also 
those  which  bear  the  greater  importance.  The 
fact  is  used  as  an  argument  for  the  assumption 
that  painting  should,  after  all,  be  an  art  of  two 
dimensions,  length  and  breadth,  reserving  thick- 
ness and  its  representation,  for  sculpture.  This 
robs  painting  of  the  quality  of  natural  aspect, 
except  under  the  single  effect  of  absolutely  direct 
lighting  and  ignores  its  development  beyond  the 
flatly  colored  representations  of  the  ancient 
Egyptians,  our  American  Indians  and  the  Japa- 
nese, a  development  inaugurated  by  the  Greeks 
and  since  adhered  to  by  all  occidental  nations. 

The  student  who  goes  to  nature  and  sees  mass 
only,  discarding  all  detail,  will  run  the  chance 
of  being  a  colorist  as  well  as  a  painter  of  breadth, 
two  of  the  most  important  qualifications ;  for  if 
he  refuses  to  be  stopped  by  detail  his  intelligence 
will  crystallize  upon  that  other  thing  which  at- 
tracts him.  He  will  think  the  harder  upon  the 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

simple  relations  of  tones  and  the  exact  color. 
Slowly  dexterity  will  add  a  facility  to  his  brush 
and  he  will,  while  aiming  at  character,  through 
breadth,  unconsciously  introduce  characteristic 
detail.  This  is  the  hope  of  the  new  method 
which  is  now  being  introduced  into  the  system 
of  public  school  instruction. 

The  scheme  as  developed  by  Mr.  Dow  is  deco- 
rative rather  than  naturalistic,  the  aesthetic  side 
with  "  Beauty,"  as  the  watchword  being  in 
greatest  point.  The  filling  of  spaces  in  agree- 
able and  harmonious  arrangement  does  not  de- 
mand strict  acknowledgment  to  natural  aspect. 
Indeed  this  is  denied  in  most  cases  where  the 
limitations  of  decoration  are  enjoined.  With  the 
first  principle,  truth,  upon  which  all  education 
rests,  as  the  basis  of  such  study,  the  nature  part 
of  this  system  will  fall  into  its  logical  channels. 
If  nature's  largeness  and  simplicity  contributes 
to  its  value,  then  nature  should  be  consulted 
when  she  is  large  and  simple.  Studies  of  trees 
in  gray  silhouette,  should  be  made  at  twilight, 
either  of  evening  or  early  morning,  when  the  de- 
tail, which  is  useless  to  the  decorative  scheme,  is 
not  seen.  Under  such  conditions  no  slight  or  sacri- 
fice is  necessitated.  Nature  then  contributes  her 
quantity  directly  and  the  student  has  no  warrant 
in  assuming  to  change  her.  There  are  times  also 
when  the  face  of  nature  is  so  varied  that  the 
most  fantastic  schemes  of  Notan  are  observed ; 
a  harbor  filled  with  sails  and  sea-gulls,  a  crowd 
of  people  speckling  the  shore,  the  houses  of  a 
village  dotted  over  a  hillside.  Under  a  direct 
[  192] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

light  these  become  legitimate  subjects  offered  by 
nature  herself  to  the  scheme  which,  however, 
she  only  now  and  then  honors. 

The  system  therefore  accompanies  the  student 
but  part  way  and  leaves  him  still  knocking  at 
the  door  of  the  complete  naturalistic  presentation 
of  pictorial  art,  a  development  which  stretches 
into  limitless  possibilities  by  the  use  of  the  third 
dimension. 

Work  in  two  dimensions  by  reason  of  its 
greater  simplicity  should  naturally  precede  the 
complications  involved  in  producing  the  com- 
pletely modelled  forms  of  nature,  and  therein  the 
argument  for  its  use  in  the  early  stages  of  the 
student's  development  is  a  strong  one. 

SUGGESTIVENESS. 

Breadth,  so  often  accountable  for  mystery, 
leads  to  suggestiveness.  It  is  at  this  point  that 
graphic  art  touches  hands  with  the  invisible, — 
where  the  thing  merges  into  the  idea.  Here  we 
deliver  over  our  little  two  by  four  affair  with  its 
specifications  all  marked,  into  the  keeping  of 
larger  hands  which  expand  its  possibilities.  If 
then  Imagination  carries  us  beyond  the  limits 
of  graphic  art  let  us  by  all  means  employ  it. 
Upon  this  phase  of  art  the  realist  can  but  look 
with  folded  arms.  The  dwellers  in  the  charmed 
world  of  Greek  mythological  fancy  came  on  tip- 
toe to  the  borders  only  of  the  daily  life  of  that 
age. 

The  still-life  painter  has  to  do  with  fact,  and 
for  many  other  subjects  also  the  fact  alone  is 
[193] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

sufficient.  It  is  generally  so  in  portraiture  where 
rendition  of  externals  is  attempted,  but  the  por- 
trait may  suggest  revery  and  reflection,  or,  by 
intimate  accessory,  provoke  a  discursive  move- 
ment in  thought. 

The  realist  is  a  man  of  drawing  and  how  to  do 
it,  of  paint  and  putting  it  on,  of  textures  and 
technique  ;  he  is  an  artist ;  and  stops  with  that. 
But  the  maker  of  pictures  would  step  to  another 
point  of  sight.  He  would  so  aim  as  to  shoot 
over  the  hilltop.  He  would  hit  something  which 
he  cannot  see. 

Suggestion  is  both  technical  and  subjective. 
There  is  suggestion  of  detail,  of  act  and  of  fact. 
In  producing  the  effect,  instead  of  the  detail,  of 
a  bunch  of  grass  or  a  mass  of  drapery,  we  sub- 
stitute suggestion  for  literalism. 

Fortuny,  as  a  figure  painter,  was  master  of  this 
art,  his  wonderful  arrangements  of  figures 
amongst  drapery  and  in  grasses  bearing  evidence. 
Here,  out  of  a  fantastic  crush  of  color,  will  be 
brought  to  view  a  beautifully  modelled  hand  and 
wrist  which  connect  by  the  imagination  only, 
with  the  shoulder  and  body.  These  however, 
are  ready  to  receive  it  and  like  other  parts  of  the 
picture  are  but  points  of  fact  to  give  encourage- 
ment to  the  quest  for  the  remainder.  The  hide 
and  seek  of  the  subject,  the  "  lost  and  found  "  in 
the  line,  the  subsidizing  of  the  imagination  for 
tribute,  by  his  magic  wand  stroke  were  the  arti- 
fices by  which  Fortuny  coquetted  with  nature 
and  the  public,  fascinating  the  art  world  of  his 
day. 

[  194] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

Fortuny,  however,  never  took  us  beyond  the 
bounds  of  his  picture.  It  was  his  doctrine  that 
avoidance  of  detail  was  artful ;  that  to  carry  the 
whole  burden  when  imagination  could  be  tricked 
into  shouldering  some  of  it  was  fool's  drudgery. 
Millet,  who  was  his  antipode  as  a  clumsy  handler 
of  his  tools,  declared  himself  fortunate  in  be- 
ing able  to  suggest  much  more  than  he  could 
paint. 

In  one  of  the  competitions  at  the  Royal 
Academy  in  England,  the  prize  was  awarded  to 
that  rendering  of  the  expression  of  Grief  which 
showed  the  face  entirely  covered,  the  suggestion 
being  declared  stronger  than  the  fact. 

In  the  realm  of  suggestion  however  the  land- 
scape artist  has  much  the  wider  range.  Who 
has  not  experienced  the  fascination  of  a  hilltop  ? 
The  hill  may  be  uninteresting — on  your  side, — 
but  there  is  another.  There  is  a  path  winding 
over  it,  telling  of  the  passing  of  few  or  many ; 
your  feet  have  touched  it  and  imagination  has 
you  in  her  train,  and  you  follow  eagerly  to  the 
beck  of  her  enchantment. 

Suppose  the  scene  at  twilight  on  one  of  the  great 
plains  of  northern  France  where  beets  are  the 
sole  crop.  A  group  of  carts  and  oxen  shut  out 
the  background  and  no  figures  are  seen.  If  how- 
ever against  the  sky  are  the  silhouetted  forms  of 
two  handf uls  of  beets,  the  sight  of  a  figure  or  even 
a. part  of  him  would  seem  unnecessary  to  a  casual 
observer  who  wished  to  know  if  there  was  any 
one  about.  These  inanimate  things  moving 
through  the  air  mean  life.  The  painter  has  ere- 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

ated  one  figure  and  suggested  the  likelihood  of 
others  by  these  few  touches.  Herein  we  have 
the  suggestion  of  a  fact.  The  suggestion  of  an 
act,  may  further  be  developed  by  showing  the 
figure,  having  already  finished  with  the  handful, 
bending  to  pick  up  others.  Such  a  position 
would  be  an  actual  statement  regarding  the  present 
act  but  a  suggested  one  concerning  the  former, 
the  effect  of  which  is  still  seen.  If  then  the 
figure  were  represented  as  performing  something 
in  any  moment  of  time  farther  removed  from 
that  governing  the  position  of  the  beets  than  nat- 
ural action  could  control,  he  has  forced  into  his 
figure  an  accelerated  action  which  ranges  any- 
where between  the  startling,  the  amusing,  and 
the  impossible. 

The  power  of  implied  force  or  action  by  sug- 
gestion is  the  basis  of  the  Greek  sculptured  art 
of  the  highest  period.  Much  of  the  argument  of 
Lessing's  elaborate  essay  on  the  "  Laocoon  "  is 
aimed  at  this  point,  which  is  brought  out  in  its 
completeness  in  his  discussion  of  Timomachus' 
treatment  of  the  raving  Ajax.  "  Ajax  was  not 
represented  at  the  moment  when,  raging  among 
the  herds  he  captures  and  slays  goats  and  oxen, 
mistaking  them  for  men.  The  master  showed 
him  sitting  weary  after  these  crazy  deeds  of 
heroism,  and  meditating  self-destruction.  That 
was  really  the  raving  Ajax,  not  because  he  is 
raving  at  the  moment,  but  because  we  see 
he  has  been  raving  and  with  what  violence  his 
present  reaction  of  shame  and  despair  vividly 
portrays.  "We  see  the  force  of  the  tempest  in  the 
[196] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

wrecks  and  the  corpses  with  which  it  has  strewn 
the  beach." 

In  the  photographic  realm  of  the  nude,  this 
quality  is  compulsory.  We  don't  want  to  have 
offered  us  so  intimate  a  likeness  of  a  nude  figure 
that  we  ask,  "  Who  is  she,  or  he  ?  "  The  general 
and  not  the  particular  suffices ;  the  type  not  the 
person.  The  painter's  art  contains  few  stronger 
touches  through  this  means  than  the  incident  of 
the  sleeping  senator  in  Gerome's  "Death  of 
Caesar." 

In  the  suggestion  of  an  idea,  graphic  and 
plastic  art  rise  to  the  highest  levels  of  poetry. 
The  picture  or  the  poem  then  becomes  the  sur- 
face, refracting  the  idea  which  stretches  on  into 
infinity. 

The  dying  lion  of  Lucerne,  mortally  pierced  by 
the  shaft,  the  wounded  lion  of  Paris,  striking 
under  his  forepaw  the  arrow  meant  for  his  de- 
struction are  symbols  memorializing  the  Swiss 
guard  of  Louis  XVI,  and  the  unequal  struggle  of 
France  against  Germany  in  '72. 

At  the  death  of  Lorenzo  the  arts  languished 
and  Michel  Angelo's  supine  and  hanging  figures 
in  his  tomb  are  there  to  indicate  it. 

MYSTERY. 

Suggestion  with  its  phantom  guide-posts  leads 
us  through  its  varied  mazes  to  the  dwelling-place 
of  mystery.  Here  the  artist  will  do  well  to  tarry 
and  learn  all  the  oracle  may  teach  him. 

The  positive  light  of  day  passes  to  the  twilight 
of  the  moon  and  stars. 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

What  things  may  be  seen  and  forms  created 
out  of  the  simple  mystery  of  twilight ! 

Its  value  by  suggestion  may  be  known  technic- 
ally to  the  artist,  for  through  the  elimination  of 
detail,  the  work  is  sifted  to  its  essence  and  we  then 
see  it  in  its  bigness,  if  it  has  any,  and  if  not  we  dis- 
cover this  lack.  "When  the  studio  light  fails  our 
best  critic  enters  and  discloses  in  a  few  moments 
what  we  have  been  looking  for  all  day  long. 

There  should  be  in  most  pictures  an  opportunity 
of  saying  that  which  shall  be  interpreted  by  each 
one  according  to  his  temperament,  a  little  place 
where  each  may  delight  in  setting  free  his  own 
imagination. 

To  account  for  the  popularity  of  many  pictures 
in  both  color  and  black  and  white  on  any  other 
ground  than  that  of  mystery  seems  ofttimes  im- 
possible. The  strong  appeal  made  to  all  classes 
by  subjects  containing  mysterious  suggestion  is 
evidenced  by  the  frequency  of  awards  to  such  in 
photographic  and  other  competitions. 

The  student  of  photography  asks  if  blurred 
edges,  empty  shadows  and  vaporous  detail  mean 
quality.  They  certainly  mean  mystery,  which 
when  applied  to  an  appropriate  subject  signifies 
that  the  artist  has  joined  his  art  with  the  imagi- 
nation of  the  beholder.  He  has  therefore  let  it 
out  at  large  usury. 

A  cottage  near  a  wood  may  be  a  very  ordinary 
subject  at  three  in  the  afternoon,  but  at  eight  in 
the  evening,  seen  in  palpitating  outline  against 
the  forest  blackness  or  the  low  toned  sky,  it 
becomes  an  element  in  a  scheme  of  far  larger 
[198] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

dimensions.  The  difference  between  the  definite 
and  indefinite  article,  when  coupled  with  that 
house,  is  the  difference  in  the  quality  of  the  art 
of  which  we  speak. 

Mystery  by  deception  is  a  misguided  use  of  an 
art  quality. 

In  photography  one  man  delights  in  the 
etching  point  and  cannot  stop  until  he  has  made 
a  net  work  all  over  his  plate  and  led  us  to  look  at 
this  instead  of  his  picture,  which,  if  good,  would 
have  been  let  alone — a  clever  device  of  throwing 
dust  into  our  eyes.  Another  produces  what  ap- 
pears to  be  a  pencil  drawing,  and  a  very  good 
imitation  some  of  them  are,  but  at  best  a  decep- 
tion. To  make  something  look  like  something 
else  is  a  perversion  of  a  brilliant  discovery  in 
photographic  processes,  which  offers  the  means 
for  securing  unity  (and  in  this  word  lies  every 
principle  of  composition)  by  adding  to  or  sub- 
tracting from  the  first  product. 

This  may  involve  the  destruction  of  two-thirds 
or  three-fourths  of  the  plate  or  it  may  demand 
many  an  accent  subtly  supplied  before  unity  is 
satisfied,  before  the  subject  is  stripped  of  its  non- 
essentials  or  before  it  may  be  regarded  complete. 
Let  such  good  work  go  on — and  the  other  sort 
too,  if  you  will,  the  stunts,  the  summersaults  and 
the  hoop  performances,  but  in  the  dignity  of 
photographic  competitions  give  the  deceptions, 
the  imitations  of  other  things,  no  standing  or 
quarter. 

No  one  will  deny  the  interest  there  is  in  a 

sensitive,  flexible  line  and  in  the  rendition  of 

[ 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

mass  by  line.  But  photography  is  an  art  deal- 
ing with  finished  surfaces  of  perfect  modelling, 
and  workers  in  this  art  should  preserve  the 
"  nature  "  of  their  subject.  The  man  who  feels 
line  had  better  etch  or  use  a  pencil. 

SIMPLICITY. 

Breadth  while  fostering  suggestiveness  gives 
birth  to  simplicity  ;  a  subjective  quality. 

When  applied  to  pictorial  art,  simplicity's  first 
appeal  is  a  mental  one.  We  are  attracted  by 
neither  technique  nor  color,  nor  things  problem- 
atic to  the  painter ;  but  by  his  mental  attitude 
toward  his  subject.  If  we  determine  that  the 
result  has  come  of  elimination,  that  to  produce 
it,  much  has  been  thrown  away  and  that  the 
artist  prefers  what  he  has  left  at  a  sacrifice, 
to  what  might  have  been,  acknowledgment 
for  this  condensation  is  coupled  with  respect. 
There  is  however  a  type  of  simplicity,  the  Simple 
Simon  sort,  or  an  indisposition  to  undertake 
difficult  things,  which  leads  to  a  selection  of  the 
easy  subject  in  nature.  Having  found  some 
modest  bit  of  charm,  the  Simple  Simon  turns 
and  twists  it  to  attenuation,  with  the  earnest 
declaration  that  there  is  no  greater  quality  than 
simplicity;  but  purposeful  emptiness  lifts  its 
hands  in  vain  for  the  baptismal  sanctification  of 
the  poetic  spirit. 

Where  simplicity  really  serves  the  artist  in  his 
task  is  in  those  cases  demanding  the  unification 
of  many  elements. 

In  painting,  Rubens  and  Turner  thus  wrought, 
[  200  ] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

bringing  harmony  from  an  organ  of  three  banks 
and  a  score  of  stops,  setting  themselves  the  task 
of  strong  men. 

Whatsoever  subject  be  projected,  the  quality 
of  principality  takes  precedence  over  all  others. 
This  is  the  first  step  toward  simplicity ;  some  one 
thought  made  chief;  therefore  some  one  object 
in  the  composition  of  quantities  and  some  one 
light  in  the  scheme  of  chiaroscuro  dominant. 
"With  this  determined,  the  problem  which  follows 
is,  how  shall  principality  be  maintained  and  to 
what  degree  of  sacrifice  must  all  other  objects  be 
submitted.  In  the  rapid  examination  of  many 
works  of  art,  those  that  appeal  strongest  will  be 
found  to  be  those  in  which  the  elements  are 
simple,  or,  if  complex,  are  governed  by  this 
quality  through  principality. 

KESERVE. 

Another  bifurcation  of  simplicity  is  Keserve. 
In  the  simple  statement  of  the  returning  Koman 
general :  "  I  came,  I  saw,  I  conquered,"  all  that 
the  senate  desired  to  know  was  stated  and  it 
gained  force  by  virtue  of  what  was  left  unsaid. 
Anything  else  might  have  gratified  the  curiosity 
of  his  auditors,  but  the  man,  in  holding  this 
secret,  made  himself  an  object  of  interest. 
Kembrandt  has  told  us  that  the  legitimate 
gamut  of  expression  lies  some  distance  between 
the  deepest  dark  of  our  palette  and  its  highest 
light.  Expression  through  limitations  is  digni- 
fied, a  quality  which  the  strain  to  fill  all  limits 
sacrifices.  It  is  the  force  quickly  squandered  by 
[201] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

the  young  actor,  who  "  overacts,"  disturbing  the 
balance  of  forces  in  the  other  parts. 

Upon  the  pivot  of  Keserve  the  opposing  creeds 
of  the  Impressionists  and  Tonists  bear  with  most 
contention.  The  former  would  lash  their 
coursers  of  Phoebus  with  unsparing  hand  from 
start  to  finish ;  the  latter  prefer  the  "  Waiting 
Kace,"  every  atom  of  force  governed  and  in 
control,  held  for  the  opportunity,  when  increas- 
ing strength  is  necessary.  It  is  the  difference 
between  aiming  at  the  bull's-eye  or  the  whole 
target. 

The  recent  tendency  of  illustration  to  produce 
a  result  in  three  or  four  flat  tones  is  another 
voice  proclaiming  for  reserve.  The  new  move- 
ment in  decorative  art  may  rightly  claim  this 
acknowledgment  to  it.  In  the  work  of  Jules 
Guerin  it  is  interesting  to  note  how  the  bit  and 
bridle  of  these  two  factors  of  breadth  have  been 
applied  to  every  stroke,  now  and  then  only,  de- 
tail being  allowed  its  say,  and  in  but  a  still  small 
voice. 

With  the  large  number  of  pictorial  ideas  now 
being  recast  in  the  decorative  formula  it  is 
necessary  to  have  a  clear  notion  of  the  purpose 
and  the  limitations  of  decorative  art,  that  this 
new  art  may  not  be  misunderstood  nor  con- 
founded with  the  purely  pictorial. 

Decoration  is  essentially  flat.  It  represents 
length  and  breadth.  It  applies  primarily  to  the 
flat  vertical  plane.  It  deals  with  the  symbols  of 
form,  with  fact  by  suggestion,  with  color  in 
mass.  It  substitutes  light  and  dark  for  nature's 
[  202  ] 


THE  NORTH  RIVER — Prendegast 


AN  INTRUSION  —  Bull 


Scribner's  Magazine 

LANDSCAPE  ARRANGEMENT — Gu/rin 


THE  MADONNA  OK  THE  VEIL  —  Raphael 
Lines  of  background  paralleling  subject,  im- 
pairing unity 


THE  LAST  JUDGMENT  —  Michael  Angela 

Composition  in  three  tiers  and  subdivided  by  two 

vertical  lines  lacking  cohesion  of  parts 


ilRTH  OF  THE  VIRGIN   MARY — Durer 

Subject  relegated  to  background, 
picture  divided  through  center 


THE  ANNUNCIATION  —  Botticelli 
Subject  disturbed  by  lack  of  reserve  in  back- 
ground, the  vision  drawn  across  the  fore- 
ground by  continuing  verticals 


PHOTO.  MUNSEY'S  MAGAZINE 

IN  CENTRAL  PARK 
Figures  supporting  each  other  in 
vertical  columns 


THE  INN —  Tenters 

Two  complete  pictures  on  one  canvas,  no 
element  of  union 


WHY  ART  WITHOUT  COMPOSITION  is  CRIPPLED 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

light  and  shade.  Conceptions  evolved  upon  the 
flat  vertical  plane  deal  with  pictorial  data  as 
material  for  heraldic  quartering,  with  natural 
fact  as  secondary  to  the  happy  adjustment  of 
spaces.  Nature  to  the  decorative  mind  presents 
a  variegated  pattern  from  which  to  clip  any 
shape  which  the  color  design  demands. 

The  influence  on  pictorial  art  of  the  decorative 
tendency,  has  brought  much  into  the  pictorial 
category  which  has  never  been  classified. 

The  Kose  Croix  influence  has  witnessed  its 
seed  maturing  into  the  art  nouveau,  and  what 
was  nurtured  under  the  forcing  glass  of  decora- 
tion has  suddenly  been  transplanted  into  the 
garden  of  pictorial  art.  In  consequence  it  would 
appear  that  the  constitution  of  the  latter  re- 
quired amendments  as  being  scarce  broad  enough 
to  accommodate  the  newer  thing.  It  is  difficult, 
for  instance,  to  reconcile  the  crowded  and  spot- 
ted surfaces  in  Mr.  Maurice  Prendergast's  pic- 
tures, to  the  requirements  of  the  balanced  con- 
ception. It  must  be  recognized  however  that 
their  first  claim  for  attraction  is  their  color 
which  is  usually  a  harmony  in  red,  yellow  and 
blue,  and  when  the  crowds  of  people  or  buildings 
do  not  form  balancing  combinations  they  oft- 
times  so  fill  the  canvas  as  to  leave  excellent 
spaces,  more  commanding  through  their  isolation 
than  the  groups  choking  the  limits  of  the  canvas. 
More  often  however  these  crowds  may  be  found 
to  hang  most  beautifully  to  a  natural  axis  and  to 
comply  with  all  the  principles  of  pictorial  struc- 
ture. 

[205] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

In  his  park  scene,  showing  several  tiers  of 
equestrians  one  above  the  other,  the  chief  charm 
is  the  idea  of  continuous  movement  which  the 
scene  conveys.  The  detail,  wisely  omitted,  if 
supplied  would  arrest  the  attention  and  a  chal- 
lenge on  this  basis  would  follow.  It  would  then 
be  found  that  what  we  accepted  as  an  impression 
of  natural  aspect  we  would  demand  more  of  as  a 
finished  picture.  It  is  because  it  is  more  decora- 
tive than  pictorial  and  because  its  pictorial  parts 
are  rendered  by  suggestion,  that  it  makes  so 
winning  an  appeal. 

The  quaint  and  fascinating  concepts  of  Mr. 
Bull  in  the  range  of  animal  delineation  are  all 
struck  in  the  stamp  of  this  newer  mould,  and  the 
list  is  a  constantly  increasing  one  of  the  illustra- 
tors whose  work  bears  this  sign. 

RELIEF. 

The  popular  notion  concerning  pictures  is  that 
they  should  stand  out;  but  as  has  been  aptly 
said,  "  they  should  stand  in " ;  so  stand  as  to 
keep  their  places  within  the  frame  and  to  keep 
the  component  parts  in  control.  A  single  object 
straining  itself  into  prominence  through  the  great 
relief  it  exhibits,  is  just  as  objectionable  as  the 
one  voice  in  a  chorus  heard  above  the  rest. 

It  is  a  law  of  light  that  all  objects  of  the  same 
plane  receive  identically  the  same  illuminations. 
If  then,  one  seems  favored,  it  must  be  by  suppres- 
sion of  the  rest.  Now  and  then  this  is  neces- 
sary, but  that  it  occurs  by  this  means  and  not  by 
unnatural  forcing  must  be  evident. 
[206] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

It  is  not  necessary  for  the  artist  to  lift  his 
sitter  off  the  canvas  by  a  forced  light  on  the 
figure  and  an  intense  shadow  separating  him 
from  the  wall  behind. 

Correggio  knew  so  well  to  conserve  breadth 
just  here.  Instead  of  this  cheap  and  easy  relief, 
he  almost  invariably  chose  to  offset  the  dark  side 
with  a  darker  tone  in  the  background,  allowing 
the  figure's  shadow  to  melt  inperceptibly  into 
the  back  space.  Breadth  and  softness  was  of 
course  the  result. 

Occasionally  however  a  distinct  attempt  at 
relief  may  be  witnessed  in  the  work  of  good 
painters.  Some  of  Yalesquez'  standing  portraits 
are  expressive  of  the  painter's  joy  in  making 
them  "  stand  out."  In  all  these  pictures  however 
there  are  no  other  objects,  no  items  added  to  the 
background  from  which  the  figure  is  separated. 
The  subject  simply  stands  in  air.  In  other  words 
it  is  an  entity  and  not  a  composition. 

The  process  technically  for  the  subduing  of  re- 
lief is  flattening  the  shadows,  thus  rendering  the 
marked  roundness  of  objects  less  pronounced. 
The  envelopment  of  air  which  all  painting  should 
express, — the  detachment  of  one  object  from  an- 
other,— goes  as  far  toward  the  production  of 
relief  as  is  necessary. 

FINISH. 

But  the  enquiry  is  naturally  made,  "  if  decep- 
tion is  undesirable,  should  the  artist  pause  before 
he  has  brought  his  work  to  a  complete  finish  ?  " 
Finish  is  not  dependent  upon  putting  in  every- 
[  207] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

thing  which  nature  contains,  else  would  art  not 
be  a  matter  of  selection.  Finish,  though  in- 
terpreted singularly  by  different  artists  as  to  de- 
gree, is  universally  understood  to  mean  the  same 
thing.  Finish  is  the  expression  of  the  true  rela- 
tions of  objects  or  of  the  parts  of  one  object. 
"When  the  true  relations  or  values  of  shade  and 
color  are  rendered  the  work  is  complete.  That 
ends  it.  The  student  for  the  first  year  or  so 
imagines  his  salvation  depends  on  detail  and 
prides  himself  on  how  much  of  it  he  can  see. 
The  instructor  insists  on  his  looking  at  nature 
with  his  eyes  half  closed  in  the  hope  that  he  will 
take  the  big  end  of  things.  There  is  war  be- 
tween them  until  the  student  capitulates,  after 
which  the  instructor  tells  him  to  go  as  he  pleases 
knowing  with  this  lesson  learned  he  will  not  go 
wrong. 

As  a  comprehensive  example  of  finish  without 
detail,  one  may  take  the  works  of  Mauve  which 
aim  to  represent  nature  as  truly  as  possible  in 
her  exact  tints.  No  one  can  observe  any  picture 
ever  painted  by  this  master  and  not  be  drawn 
down  close  to  the  ground  that  he  may  walk  on 
it  or  elevate  his  head  into  the  air  and  breathe  it 
or  feel  it  possible  to  send  a  stone  sailing  into  its 
liquid  depths ;  but  finish !  when  we  look  for  it 
where  or  what  is  it  ?  At  the  Stewart  Gallery 
the  attendant  was  accustomed  to  offer  the  visitor 
a  magnifying  glass  with  which  to  examine  the 
lustre  of  a  horse's  eye  or  the  buckles  upon 
Napoleon's  saddle,  in  the  "  Keview  of  Cuirassiers 
at  the  Battle  of  Friedland  "  by  Meissonier.  These 
[  208  ] " 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

items  are  what  interested  the  great  detailist  and 
they  are  perfect ;  but  with  all  the  intense  effort 
of  six  close  years  of  labor  the  picture  has  less 
real  finish  than  any  work  ever  signed  by  Mauve. 
The  big  thing  in  finish  has  been  missed  and  I 
doubt  if  any  artist  or  connoisseur  has  ever  come 
upon  this  picture,  now  in  the  Metropolitan  Mu- 
seum, without  a  slight  gasp  at  the  false  relation 
of  color  existing  between  the  green  wheat,  the 
horses  trampling  through  it  and  the  sky  above 
it.  The  unity  of  these  elements  was  the  first 
step  in  finish  and  the  artist  with  all  his  vast 
knowledge  of  little  things  never  knew  it. 

If  then,  perfect  finish  is  a  matter  beyond  de- 
tail, it  follows  it  must  be  looked  for  elsewhere  at 
this  end  of  nature. 

The  average  man  soon  takes  the  artist's  inten- 
tion and  accepts  the  work  on  this  basis,  think- 
ing not  of  finish  nor  of  its  lack,  but  of 
nature;  acknowledging  through  the  sugges- 
tions of  the  picture  that  he  has  been  touched 
by  her. 

"  During  these  moments,"  says  John  La  Farge 
in  his  "  Considerations  on  Painting,"  "  are  not  the 
spectators  excusable  who  live  for  the  moment  a 
serene  existence,  feeling  as  if  they  had  made  the 
work  they  admire  ?  " 

The  argument  then  is  that  the  master  painter 
is  one  who  selects  the  subject,  takes  precious  care 
that  its  foundation  quantities  and  qualities  are 
furnished  and  then  hands  it  over  to  any  one  to 
finish.  That  it  falls  into  sympathetic  hands  is 
his  single  solicitude. 

[209] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

"  It  requires  two  men  to  paint  a  picture,"  says 
Mr.  Hopkinson  Smith,  "  one  to  work  the  brush 
and  the  other  to  kill  the  artist  when  he  has  fin- 
ished his  picture  and  doesn't  know  it." 


[210] 


The  Critical  Judgment  of  Pictures 


PART  III 

"With  the  critic  all  depends  on  the  right  application  of  his 
principles  in  particular  cases.  And  since  there  are  fifty  ingenu- 
ous critics  to  one  of  penetration,  it  would  be  a  wonder  if  the 
applications  were  in  every  case  with  the  caution  indispensable 
to  an  exact  adjustment  of  the  scales  of  art." — Leasing' s 
Laocoon. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE   MAN   IN   ART 

ART  is  a  middle  quality  between  a  thought 
and  a  thing — the  union  of  that  which  is  nature 
with  that  which  is  exclusively  human." l 

For  the  every-day  critic  much  of  the  secret 
lies  in  the  proposition  Art  is  Nature,  with  the 
man  added  ;  nature  seen  through  a  temperament. 
Nature  is  apparent  on  the  surface  of  pictures. 
"We  see  this  side  at  a  glance.  To  find  the  man 
in  it  requires  deeper  sight. 

If  a  painter  of  portraits,  has  he  painted  the 
surface,  or  the  character  ?  Has  he  gone  halting 
after  it,  or  has  he  nailed  it :  has  he  won  with  it 
finally  ?  Is  he  a  man  whose  natural  refinement 

1  Coleridge. 
[211] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

proved  a  true  mirror  in  which  his  sitter  was  re- 
flected or  has  the  coarse  and  uneven  grain  of  the 
artist  become  manifest  in  the  false  planes  of  the 
character  presentation  ?  "With  respect  to  por- 
traits less  than  other  subjects,  can  we  expect  to 
find  them  reflections  of  the  artist's  personality. 
But  some  of  the  ablest,  while  interpreting  an- 
other's character,  frequently  add  somewhere  in  it 
their  own.  The  old  masters  rarely  signed,  feel- 
ing that  they  wrote  themselves  all  through  their 
works. 

The  sure  thing  regarding  the  great  portraitist 
is  that  he  is  a  man  of  refinement.  This  all  his- 
tory shows. 

Is  our  artist  a  genre  painter:  then  does  his 
mind  see  small  things  to  delight  in  them,  or  to 
delight  us — if  this,  he  is  our  servitor  or  little  bet- 
ter,— does  he  go  at  the  whole  thing  with  the  sin- 
cerity of  an  artistic  purpose  and  somewhere  place 
a  veritable  touch  of  genius,  or  only  represent  one 
item  after  another  until  the  whole  catalogue  of 
items  is  complete,  careful  that  he  leave  behind 
no  just  cause  for  reproach  ?  Has  the  man  digni- 
fied his  subject  and  raised  it  to  something  above 
imitative  art,  or  does  he  clearly  state  in  his  treat- 
ment of  it  that  imitation  is  the  end  of  art  ? 

Is  he  a  painter  of  historic  incident ;  then  does 
he  convince  you  that  his  data  is  accurate,  or 
allow  you  to  conjecture  that  his  details  are  make- 
shifts ?  Is  the  scene  an  inspiration  or  common- 
place ?  Has  he  been  able  to  put  you  into  the 
atmosphere  of  a  bygone  day,  or  do  his  figures 
look  like  models  in  hired  costume  and  quite 

[212] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

ready  to  resume  their  own  clothes  and  modern 
life? 

Is  he  a  painter  of  flowers ;  then  is  he  an  artist 
or  a  botanist  ?  Is  he  a  marinist ;  then,  as  a 
landsman  has  he  made  you  feel  like  one,  or  has 
he  painted  for  you  water  that  can  be  walked  on 
without  faith  ?  Has  he  shown  you  the  dignity, 
the  vastness,  the  tone,  and  above  all  the  move- 
ment of  the  sea  ? 

Is  he  a  landscape  painter  ?  Then  is  he  in  a 
position  to  assert  himself  to  a  greater  degree 
than  they  all?  The  farther  one  may  remove 
himself  from  his  theme,  the  less  of  its  minutiae 
will  he  see.  The  process  of  simplification  is  in- 
dividual. What  he  takes  from  nature  he  puts 
back  out  of  himself.  The  landscape  painter  be- 
comes an  interpreter  of  moods,  his  own  as  well 
as  nature's,  and  in  his  selection  of  these  he  re- 
veals himself.  Does  he  show  you  the  kingdoms 
of  the  world  from  some  high  mount,  or  make  you 
believe  they  may  be  found  if  you  keep  on  mov- 
ing through  the  air  and  over  the  ground  such  as 
he  creates  ?  Does  he  make  you  listen  with  him 
to  the  soft  low  music  when  nature  is  kindly  and 
tender  and  lovable,  or  is  his  stuff  of  that  robust 
fibre  which  makes  her  companionable  to  him  in 
her  ruggedness  and  strength  ? 

As  the  hidden  forces  of  nature  control  man 
yet  bend  to  his  bidding — electricity,  air,  steam, 
etc. — so  do  the  open  and  obvious  ones  which  the 
painter  deals  with.  They  dictate  all  the  con- 
ditions and  yet  somehow — he  governs.  The  dif- 
ferent ways  in  which  he  does  this  gives  to  art  its 
[213] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

variety  and  enables  us  to  form  a  scale  of  relative 
values. 

The  work  of  art  which  attracts  us  excites  two 
emotions;  pleasure  in  the  subject;  admiration 
for  the  artist.  Exhibitions  of  strength  and  skill 
claim  our  interest  not  so  much  for  the  thing 
done,  which  often  perishes  with  the  doing,  as  for 
the  doer.  The  poet  with  a  hidden  longing  to  ex- 
press or  a  story  to  tell,  who  binds  himself  to  the 
curious  limitations  of  the  Italian  sonnet,  in  giv- 
ing evidence  of  his  powers,  excites  greater  ad- 
miration than  though  he  had  not  assumed  such 
conditions. 

It  is  the  personal  element  which  has  estab- 
lished photography  and  given  it  art  character. 
Says  J.  C.  Van  Dyke,  "  a  picture  is  but  an  auto- 
biographical statement;  it  is  the  man  and  not 
the  facts  that  may  awaken  our  admiration ;  for, 
unless  we  feel  his  presence  and  know  his  genius 
the  picture  is  nothing  but  a  [collection  of  in- 
cidents. It  is  not  the  work  but  the  worker,  not 
the  mould  but  the  moulder,  not  the  paint  but 
the  painter." 

Witness  it  in  the  work  of  Michel  Angelo,  in 
both  paint  and  marble.  How  we  feel  the  man 
of  it  in  Franz  Hals,  in  Kembrandt,  in  Rubens, 
Van  Dyck,  Valasquez,  Ribera  and  Goya,  in 
Watteau  and  Teniers,  in  Millet  and  Troyon,  in 
Rousseau  and  Rico,  in  Turner,  Constable  and 
Gainsborough,  in  Fildes  and  Holl,  in  "Whistler, 
in  Monet,  in  Rodin  and  Barnard,  in  Inness,  in 
"Wyant  and  Geo.  Fuller. 

Like  religion,  art  is  not  a  matter  of  surfaces. 
[214] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

Its  essence  is  to  be  spiritually  discerned.  It  is 
the  spirit  of  the  artist  you  must  seek ; — find  the 
man. 

"Back  of  the  canvas  that  throbs,  the  painter  is  hinted  and 
hidden; 

Into  the  statue  that  breathes  the  soul  of  the  sculptor  is  bidden; 

Under  the  joy  that  is  felt  lie  the  infinite  issue  of  feeling  ; 

Crowning  the  glory  revealed  is  the  glory  that  crowns  the  re- 
vealing. 

Great  are  the  symbols  of  being,  but  that  which  is  symboled  is 
greater; 

Vast  the  create  and  beheld,  but  vaster  the  inward  creator; 

Back  of  the  sound  broods  the  silence,  back  of  the  gift  stands 
the  giving; 

Back  of  the  hand  that  receives  thrill  the  sensitive  nerves  of  re- 
ceiving." 


[215] 


CHAPTER  XIY 

SPECIFIC   QUALITIES   AND   FAULTS 

IF  we  recognize  the  manly  qualities  in  a  pic- 
ture, the  work  has  at  least  a  favorable  introduc- 
tion. Farther  than  this  point  it  may  not  please 
us,  but  if  not,  it  should  remain  a  question  of  taste 
between  the  artist  and  yourself ;  and,  concerning 
taste,  there  is  no  disputing.  It  is  just  at  this 
point  that  the  superficial  critic  errs.  Dislike 
for  the  subject,  however  ably  expressed,  is  never 
cause  for  condemnation.  The  fair  question  to 
ask  is,  what  was  the  artist's  intention  ?  Its  an- 
swer provokes  your  challenge ;  "  Is  it  worth  the 
expression ! "  If  conceded,  the  real  judgment 
begins.  Has  he  done  it ;  if  not  wholly — in  what 
degree  ? 

The  question  of  degree  will  demand  the 
patience  of  good  judgment.  There  may  be  much 
or  little  sanity  in  condemning  a  picture  owing  to  a 
single  fault.  It  depends  on  the  kind.  There  are 
errors  of  selection,  of  presentation  (technique)  of 
natural  fact,  and  of  art  principle.  We  can  excuse 
the  first,  condone  the  second,  find  small  palliation 
for  the  third,  but  he  for  whom  art  principles 
mean  nothing,  is  an  art  anarchist. 

Errors  of  selection  are  errors  of  judgment.  A 
man  may  choose  a  subject  which  is  unprofitable 
and  which  refuses  to  yield  fruit ;  and  yet  in  his 
[216] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

effort  at  reediting  its  elements  he  may  have 
shown  great  skill  and  knowledge  and  may  have 
expended  upon  it  his  rarest  gifts — fine  technique 
and  good  color.  The  critic  must  read  between 
the  lines  and  blame  the  judgment,  not  the  art. 
Feeble  selection  and  weak  composition  will  be 
more  easily  specified  as  faults  than  bad  drawing 
and  unworthy  color. 

To  the  profession,  the  epithet  "  commonplace  " 
weighs  heavily  against  a  work  of  art.  Selection 
of  what  is  fitting  as  an  art  subject  means  ex- 
perience. The  "ungrateful"  subject  and  bad 
composition  are  therefore  likely  to  mark  the 
nouveau  in  picture  making — the  student  fresh 
from  the  atelier  with  accurate  drawing  and  true 
color  and  who  may  be  full  of  promise,  but  who 
has  become  tangled  with  what  the  French  term 
the  soujet  ingrat.  Every  artist  has  studies  of 
this  sort  which  contain  sufficient  truth  to  save 
them  from  being  painted  over  as  canvas,  and 
most  painters  know  the  place  for  such — the  store- 
room. Exhibition  of  studies  is  interesting  as 
disclosing  the  means  to  an  end,  and  the  public 
should  discern  between  the  intention  of  the 
"  study  "  and  of  the  picture. 

Herein  lies  the  injustice  of  acquiring  the 
posthumous  effects  of  an  artist  and  exposing  for 
sale  every  scrap  to  be  found.  The  ravenous 
group  of  dealers  which  made  descent  upon  the 
Millet  cottage  at  the  death  of  that  artist  effected 
as  clean  a  sweep  as  an  army  of  ants  in  an  Indian 
bungalow.  In  consequence  we  see  in  galleries 
throughout  Europe  and  this  country  many  trifles 
[217] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

in  pastel  which  are  not  only  incomplete  but 
positively  bad  as  color.  Millet  used  but  a  few 
hard  crayons  for  trials  in  color  suggestion,  to  be 
translated  in  oil.  Some  were  failures  in  com- 
position and  in  most  the  color  is  nothing  more 
than  any  immature  hand  could  produce  with  such 
restricted  means.  To  allow  these  to  enter  into 
any  estimate  of  Millet  or  to  take  them  seriously 
as  containing  his  own  estimate  of  art,  or  as  in- 
trinsically valuable,  is  folly. 

The  faults  of  selection  may  also  be  open  to 
difference  of  opinion.  "Who  would  want  to 
paint  you  when  no  one  wants  to  look  at  you  ?  " 
said  an  old  epigrammatist  to  a  misshapen  man. 
"  Not  so,"  says  the  artist ;  "  I  will  paint  you 
though  people  may  not  like  to  look  at  you  and 
they  will  look  at  my  portrait  not  for  your  sake 
but  for  my  art,  and  find  it  interesting." 

The  cult  that  declares  for  anything  as  a 
subject,  its  value  dependent  upon  that  which 
the  artist  adds,  stands  as  a  healthy  balance  to 
that  band  of  literary  painters  which  affected 
English  art  a  generation  ago,  the  school  of 
Kosetti,  Burne-Jones,  and  Maddox-Brown,  who 
strove  to  present  ideas  through  art.  "With  them 
the  idea  was  paramount,  and  the  technical  in  time 
dwindled,  the  subject  with  its  frequently  ramified 
meaning,  proving  to  be  beyond  their  art  expression. 

Again,  the  popular  attempt  to  conceive  in 
pictures  that  which  the  artist  never  expected  us 
to  find  is  as  reprehensible  in  graphic  as  in 
musical  art.  There  is  often  no  literary  mean- 
ing whatever  in  some  of  the  best  examples  of 
[218] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

both.  Harmony,  tone,  color  and  technique  pure 
and  simple  are  the  full  compass  of  the  intention. 
What  this  may  suggest  to  the  individual  he  is 
welcome  to,  but  the  glib  dictum  of  certain 
preachers  on  art  as  to  hidden  intentions  would 
indicate  that  they  had  effected  an  agreement, 
with  the  full  confidence  of  the  silent  partner  to 
exploit  him.  Beware  of  the  gilt  edged  footnote, 
or  the  art  that  depends  upon  it.  A  writer  of 
ordinary  imagination  and  fluent  English  can  put 
an  aureole  about  any  work  of  art  he  desires  and 
much  reputation  is  secured  on  this  wise. 

In  the  presentation  of  a  subject  through  given 
pictorial  elements,  the  critic  will  know  whether 
the  most  has  been  made  of  the  opportunity.  If 
the  composition  prove  satisfactory  and  the  theme 
as  presented  still  fails  to  move  the  critic,  he 
must  shift  from  the  scientific  analysis  to  those 
qualities  governing  the  artist  subjectively.  He  is 
lacking  in  "temperament,"  and  without  tem- 
perament who  in  art  has  a  chance  ?  "With  years 
in  the  schools  and  a  technique  of  mechanical 
perfection  he  lacks  the  divine  fire  and  leaves  us 
cold.  It  is  for  the  critic  to  say  this,  and  herein 
he  becomes  a  teacher  to  public  and  artist. 

The  patron  who  agreed  that  a  picture  under 
discussion  had  every  quality  which  the  salesman 
mentioned  and  patiently  heard  him  through  but 
quietly  remarked,  "  It  hasn't  that,"  as  he  snapped 
his  finger,  is  the  sort  of  a  critic  who  does  not 
need  to  know  the  names  of  things  in  art.  He 
felt  a  picture  should  have  snap,  and  if  it  did  not, 
it  was  lacking. 

[219] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

But  beyond  the  presentation  of  a  theme  having 
in  it  the  mark  of  genius,  is  that  of  workmanlike 
technique.  The  demand  of  the  present  age  is 
for  this.  If  a  subject  is  not  painted  it  will  scarce 
hold  as  art.  Ideas,  composition,  even  color  and 
harmony  plead  in  vain ;  the  spirit  of  the  times 
sits  thus  in  judgment. 

The  presentation  also  should  be  individual,  the 
unmistakable  sign  of  distinction.  To  be  able  to 
tell  at  a  glance  by  this  mark  puts  us  on  the  foot- 
ing of  intimate  acquaintance.  A  difference  ex- 
ists between  this  and  the  well-known  mannerisms 
of  individuals.  The  latter  applies  to  special 
items  in  pictures,  the  former  to  the  individual 
style  of  expression.  An  artist  may  have  one 
way  of  seeing  all  trees,  or  the  similarity  of  one 
picture  with  another  may  be  because  there  is 
only  one  sort  of  tree  that  interests  him,  or  one 
time  of  day  when  all  trees  attract  his  brush.  In 
the  first  case  he  is  a  mannerist,  in  the  other  a 
worker  in  a  chosen  groove.  It  cannot  be  denied 
that  many  artists  making  a  success  in  a  limited 
range  of  subject  consent  to  stop,  and  go  no 
further,  under  pressure  of  dealers  or  the  public. 
The  demand  for  specialists  has  much  more  reason 
in  science  and  mechanics  than  in  art,  which  is  or 
should  be  a  result  of  impulse. 

Corot  declared  he  preferred  the  low  sweet 
music  of  early  dawn  and  to  him  there  was 
enough  variety  in  it  to  keep  him  employed  as 
long  as  he  could  paint ;  but  the  thralldom  of  an 
artist  who  follows  in  the  groove  of  a  bygone  suc- 
cess because  if  he  steps  out  of  it  the  dealer 
[  220  ] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

frowns  and  will  not  handle  his  work,  is  pitiable, 
exposing  to  view  year  by  year  the  remonitory 
canvas  with  such  slight  changes  as  newness  de- 
mands. It  would  be  a  healthier  sign  in  art  if 
the  press  and  public  would  applaud  new  ventures 
when  it  was  clear  that  an  artist,  thereby,  was  seek- 
ing to  do  better  things  and  perhaps  find  himself 
in  a  newer  vein.  But  variety  in  art  it  is  main- 
tained need  not  come  of  variety  in  the  individual 
but  of  a  variety  of  individuals.  So  Van  Marke 
must  paint  cows,  and  Jacque  sheep  and  Wouver- 
manns  must  be  told  by  the  inevitable  white 
horse,  and  have  the  mere  mention  of  the  artist's 
name  mean  the  same  sort  of  picture  every  time. 
This  aids  the  simplification  of  a  many-sided  ques- 
tion. The  public,  as  Mr.  Hamerton  declares, 
hates  to  burden  itself  with  names;  to  which 
might  be  added  that  it  also  hates  to  differentiate 
with  any  single  name.  A  good  portraitist  in 
England  one  year  exhibited  at  the  Royal  Acad- 
emy a  wonderfully  painted  peacock.  The  people 
raved  and  thereafter  he  was  allowed  to  paint 
nothing  else.  Occasionally  it  is  shown  that 
this  discrimination  is  without  reason,  as  many 
men  rise  above  the  restriction.  The  Gains- 
borough portrait  and  landscape  are  equally 
strong,  the  works  of  painters  in  marble,  and 
sculptors  who  use  color,  have  proved  a  surprise 
to  the  critics  and  an  argument  against  the 
"  specialty." 

There  are  two  degrees  in  the  subversion  of  the 
natural  fact. 

If,  for  example,  under  the  rule  in  physics,  the 
[221  ] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

angle  of  incidence  being  equal  to  the  angle  of  re- 
flection, it  be  found  that  a  cloud  in  the  sky  will 
reflect  into  water  too  near  the  bottom  of  the 
picture,  a  painter's  license  may  move  it  higher  in 
its  vertical  line ;  but  if  the  same  cloud  is  made 
to  reflect  at  an  angle  several  degrees  to  right  or 
left,  the  artist  breaks  the  simplest  law  of  optics. 
The  painter's  art  at  best  is  one  of  deception.  In 
the  first  case  the  lie  was  plausible.  In  the 
second  case  any  schoolboy  could  have  "told 
on  "  the  artist. 

There  are  good  painters  who  appear  to  know 
little  and  care  less  for  physical  fact.  Their  busi- 
ness is  with  the  surface  of  the  earth ;  the  whys 
and  wherefores  of  the  universe  they  ignore,  com- 
placent in  their  ignorance  until  it  leads  them  to 
place  the  evening  star  within  the  arc  of  the  cres- 
cent moon,  when  they  are  annoyed  to  be  told 
that  the  moon  does  not  grow  from  this  shape  to 
the  full  orb  once  a  month.  But  of ttimes,  though 
the  artist  may  not  flout  the  universe,  he  shows 
his  carelessness  of  natural  fact  and  needs  the 
snubbing.  It  is  in  this  range  that  the  little  critic 
walks  triumphantly  posing  as  a  shrewd  and  a 
discerning  one.  He  holds  up  inconsistencies  with 
his  deft  thumb  and  finger  and  cries,  "what  a 
smart  boy  am  I."  And  yet  in  spite  of  him 
Rubens,  for  the  sake  of  a  better  line  in  the  fore- 
ground of  one  of  his  greatest  compositions  dares 
to  reconstruct  a  horse  with  his  head  issuing  from 
his  hind  quarters,  allowing  the  tail  to  serve  as 
the  mane,  and  Turner  kept  on  drawing  castles 
all  wrong. 

[  222  ] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

But  these  critics  have  their  place.  Even  Rus- 
kin  accepted  this  as  a  part  of  his  work. 

There  are  occasions,  as  every  artist  will  admit, 
when  the  artless  critic  with  his  crude  common- 
places is  most  welcome. 

As  to  the  violator  of  art  principles,  his  range 
in  art  must  perforce  be  short,  his  reward  a  smile 
of  pity,  his  finish  suicide.  Originality  may  find 
all  the  latitude  it  requires  within  the  limits  of 
Art  Principles. 

Ruskin  in  his  principles  of  drawing  enumerates 
these  as  "  Principality,  i.  e.,  a  chief  object  in  a 
picture  to  which  others  point:  Repetition,  the 
doubling  of  objects  gives  quietude :  Symmetry  de- 
velops solemnity,  but  in  landscape  it  must  be  bal- 
anced, not  formal.  Continuity :  as  in  a  succession 
of  pillars  or  promontories  or  clouds  involving 
change  and  relief,  or  else  it  would  be  mere 
monotonous  repetition.  Curvature :  all  beautiful 
objects  are  bounded  by  infinite  curves,  that  is  to 
say,  of  infinitely  changing  direction,  or  else  made 
up  of  an  infinite  number  of  subordinate  curves. 
Radiation  :  illustrated  in  leaves  and  boughs  and 
in  the  structure  of  organic  bodies.  Contrast :  of 
shapes  and  substances  and  of  general  lines ;  be- 
ing the  complement  of  the  law  of  continuity, 
contrast  of  light  and  shade  not  being  enough. 
Interchange :  as  in  heraldic  quartering.  Con- 
sistency :  or  breadth  overriding  petty  contrast 
and  giving  the  effect  of  aggregate  color  or  form. 
Harmony :  art  is  an  abstract  and  must  be  har- 
moniously abstracted,  keeping  the  relations  of 
values." 

[223] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

With  the  above  principles  of  composition  Mr. 
Kuskin  aims  to  cover  the  field  of  architecture, 
sculpture  and  painting,  and  he  declares  there  are 
doubtless  others  which  he  cannot  define  "and 
these  the  most  important  and  connected  with  the 
deepest  powers  of  art.  The  best  part  of  every 
work  of  art  is  inexplicable.  It  is  good  because 
it  is  good." 

Mr.  Hamerton  enumerates  the  duties  of  the 
critic  as  follows ;  "  to  utter  unpopular  truths ;  to 
instruct  the  public  in  the  theoretical  knowledge 
of  art ;  to  defend  true  living  artists  against  the 
malice  of  the  ignorant ;  to  prevent  false  living 
artists  from  acquiring  an  influence  injurious  to 
the  general  interests  of  art ;  to  exalt  the  fame  of 
dead  artists  whose  example  may  be  beneficial ;  to 
weaken  the  fame  of  dead  artists  whose  names  have 
an  injurious  degree  of  authority ;  to  speak  always 
with  absolute  sincerity ;  to  give  expression  to 
vicissitudes  of  opinion,  not  fearing  the  imputa- 
tion of  inconsistency ;  to  make  himself  as 
thoroughly  informed  as  his  time  and  opportuni- 
ties will  allow,  about  everything  concerning  the 
Fine  Arts,  whether  directly  or  indirectly  ;  to  en- 
large his  own  powers  of  sympathy  ;  to  resist  the 
formation  of  prejudices."  The  above  require- 
ments are  well  stated  for  critics  who,  by  reason 
of  the  authority  of  their  position  as  press  writers, 
are  teachers  of  art.  As  to  the  personnel  and 
qualifications  of  this  Faculty  of  Instruction,  inves- 
tigation would  prove  embarrassing.  The  shal- 
lowness  of  the  average  review  of  current  exhibi- 
tions is  no  more  surprising,  than  that  responsible 
[224] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

editors  of  newspapers  place  such  consignments 
in  the  hands  of  the  all-around-reporter,  to  whom 
a  picture  show  is  no  more  important  than  a  fire 
or  a  function.  Mr.  Hamerton  in  his  essay  urges 
artists  to  write  on  art  topics,  as  their  opinions  are 
expert  testimony,  a  suggestion  practically  ap- 
plied by  a  small  group  of  daily  papers  in 
America. 


[225] 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE   PICTURE   SENSE 

"  FORTUNATE  is  he,  who  at  an  early  age  knows 
what  art  is." l 

Howsoever  eloquent  may  be  the  artist  in 
his  work,  it  is  convincing  only  in  that  degree  to 
which  his  audience  is  prepared  to  understand  his 
language  and  comprehend  his  subject. 

"  The  artist  hangs  his  brains  upon  the  wall," 
said  the  veteran  salesman  of  the  National  Acad- 
emy, and  there  they  remain  without  explana- 
tion or  defense.  The  crowd  as  it  passes,  enjoys  or 
jeers,  as  the  ideas  of  this  mute  language  are  com- 
prehended or  confounded.  Art  requires  no  apol- 
ogy and  asks  none  ;  all  she  requests  is  that  those 
who  would  affect  her  must  know  the  principles 
upon  which  she  works.  An  age  of  altruism  should 
be  able  to  insure  to  the  artist  sufficient  culture 
in  his  audience  so  that  his  language  be  under- 
stood and  that  his  speech  be  not  reckoned  as  an 
uncertain  sound.  The  public  should  form  with 
him  an  industrial  partnership,  not  in  the  limited 
sense  of  giving  and  taking,  but  of  something 
founded  on  comprehensibility. 

What  proportion  of  the  visitors  to  an  annual 
exhibition  can  intelligently  state  the  purpose  of 
impressionism,  or  distinguish  between  this  and 

1  Goethe . 

[  226] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

tonal  art ;  what  proportion  think  of  art  only  as  it 
exploits  a  "  subject "  or  "  tells  a  story  " ;  how  many 
look  at  but  one  class  of  pictures  and  have  no  in- 
terest in  the  rest;  how  many  go  through  the 
catalogue  with  a  prayer-book  fidelity,  and  know 
nothing  of  it  all  when  they  come  out  !  How 
many  know  enough  to  hang  the  pictures  in  their 
own  houses  so  that  each  picture  is  helped  and 
none  damaged  ? 

Could  it  be  safely  inferred  that  every  collector 
of  pictures  knows  and  feels  to  the  point  of  giving 
a  reason  for  his  choice  of  pictures,  or  even  reason- 
able advice  to  a  friend  who  would  also  own 
pictures  ?  Is  not  much  of  what  is  bought  taken 
on  the  word  of  a  reliable  dealer  and  owned  in 
the  satisfaction  of  its  being  "  all  right,"  and  per- 
haps "  safe,"  as  an  investment  ?  Is  it  unreason- 
able to  ask  the  many  sharers  in  the  passing  picture 
pleasures  of  a  great  city  to  make  themselves 
intelligent  in  some  other  and  more  practical  way 
than  by  contact,  gleaning  only  through  a  life- 
time what  should  have  been  theirs  without  delay 
as  a  foundation  ;  and  to  exchange  for  the  vague 
impression  of  pleasure,  defended  in  the  simple 
comfort  of  knowing  what  one  likes,  the  enjoyment 
of  sure  authority  and  a  reason  for  it. 

The  best  of  all  means  for  acquiring  art  sense  is 
association ;  first,  with  a  personality ;  second, 
with  the  product.  The  artist's  safest  method 
with  the  uninitiated  is  to  use  the  speech  which 
they  understand.  In  conversation,  artists,  as 
a  rule,  talk  freely,  and  one  may  get  deeper 
into  art  from  a  fortnight's  sojourn  with  a  group 
[227] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

of  artists  than  from  all  the  treatises  ever  written 
on  the  philosophy  of  art.  The  most  successful 
collectors  of  pictures  know  this.  They  study 
artists  as  well  as  pictures.  But  on  the  other 
hand  must  it  not  also  be  conceded  that  acquaint- 
ance with  fine  examples  of  art  is  in  a  fair  way  of 
cultivating  the  keen  and  intelligent  collector  in 
the  pictorial  sense  to  a  degree  beyond  that  of 
those  artists  whose  associations  are  altogether 
with  their  own  works  or  with  those  who  think 
with  them,  who  must  of  necessity  believe  most 
sincerely  in  themselves  and  who  are  thus  obliged 
to  operate  in  a  groove,  and  with  consequent  bias. 
For  this  reason  association  should  be  varied.  No 
one  has  the  whole  truth. 

Music  scores  a  point  beyond  painting,  in  neces- 
sitating a  personality.  We  see  the  interpreter 
and  this  intimacy  assists  comprehension.  But 
howsoever  potent  is  association  with  art  and 
artist,  one  may  thus  never  get  as  closely  in  touch 
with  art  as  by  working  with  her.  The  best  and 
safest  critic  is  of  course  one  who  has  performed. 
Experts  are  those  persons  who  have  passed 
through  every  branch  and  know  the  entire  "  busi- 
ness." 

The  years  of  toil  to  students  who  eventually 
never  arrive  are  incidentally  spent  in  gaining  the 
knowledge  to  thus  know  pictures,  and  though  the 
success  of  accomplishment  be  denied,  their  com- 
pensation lies  in  the  lengthened  reach  of  a  new 
horizon  which  meantime  has  been  opened  to 
them. 

Whether    the    picture    be    found    in    nature 

[228] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

and  is  to  be  rescued,  as  is  the  bas-relief  from  its 
enveloping  mould,  cut  out  of  its  surroundings  by 
the  four  sides  of  the  canvas  and  brought  indoors 
with  the  same  glow  of  triumph  as  the  geologist 
feels  in  picking  a  turquoise  out  of  a  rock  at  which 
others  had  stared  and  found  nothing;  or 
whether  it  be  found,  as  one  of  many  in  a  collec- 
tion of  prints  or  paintings ;  or  whether  the  recog- 
nition be  personal  and  asks  the  acceptance  of  some- 
thing wrought  by  one's  own  hand — to  know  a 
picture  when  one  sees  it — this  is  art  sense. 
Backed  by  a  judgment  presenting  a  defense  to 
the  protests  of  criticism,  it  becomes  art  knowl- 
edge. 

To  find  and  preserve  pictures  out  of  the  maze 
of  nature  is  the  labor  of  the  artist :  to  recognize 
them  when  found,  the  privilege  of  the  connois- 
seur. 

The  guileless  prostrations  which  the  many 
affect  regarding  art  judgments  evoke  the  same 
degree  of  pity  as  the  assertion  of  the  beggar  that 
he  needs  money  for  a  night's  lodging  when  you 
and  he  know  that  one  is  awaiting  him  for  the  ask- 
ing at  the  Bureau  of  Charities.  The  many  de- 
clare they  know  nothing  about  art,  the  Avhile 
having  an  all  around  culture  in  the  humanities, 
in  literature,  poetry,  prose  composition,  music, 
aesthetics,  etc.  The  principles  of  all  the  arts  be- 
ing identical,  how  simple  would  it  be  to  apply 
those  governing  the  arts  which  one  knows  to 
what  is  unknown.  The  musician  and  poet  make 
use  of  contrast,  light  and  shade,  gradation,  an- 
tithesis, balance,  accent,  force  by  opposition,  iso- 
[  229] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

lation  and  omission,  rhythm,  tone-color,  climax, 
and  above  all  unity  and  harmony. 

Let  the  musician  and  him  who  knows  literature 
challenge  the  work  of  art  for  a  violation  of  any  of 
these  and  the  judgment  which  results  may  be  ac- 
cepted seriously  ;  and  yet  the  essence  lies  beyond 
— with  nature  herself.  It  is  just  here  that  the 
stock  writer  of  the  daily  paper  misses  it.  He 
may  have  science  enough,  but  lacks  the  love,  the 
revelation  through  communion. 

But,  with  this  omitted,  critical  judgment  is 
safer  in  the  hands  of  a  person  of  broad  culture, 
who  knows  nothing  of  the  tools  of  painting  and 
sculpture,  than  when  wielded  by  a  half-educated 
student  of  art  with  his  development  all  on  one 
side.  Ruskin  warns  us  of  young  critics. 

As  a  short  cut,  the  camera  fills  a  place  for  the 
many  who  feel  pictures  and  wish  to  create  them, 
but  at  small  cost  of  time  and  effort.  A  little  art 
school  for  the  public  has  the  small  black  box  be- 
come, into  which  persons  have  been  looking 
searchingly  and  thoughtfully  for  the  past  dozen 
years.  To  those  who  have  thus  regarded  it  and 
exhibit  work  in  competition,  revelations  have 
come.  Non-composition  ruins  their  chances. 
Good  composition  is  nine-tenths  of  the  plot. 
When  this  is  conceded  the  whole  significance  of 
their  art  is  deepened.  Then  and  not  until  then 
does  photography  become  allied  with  art,  for  this 
is  the  only  point  at  which  brains  may  be  mixed 
with  the  photographic  product. 

Any  one  who  has  experienced  a  lantern  slide 
exhibition  of  art,  where  picture  after  picture  fol- 
[230] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

lows  rapidly  and  the  crowd  expresses  judgment 
by  applause,  will  not  long  be  in  doubt  what  pic- 
tures make  the  strongest  appeal.  The  "  crowd r> 
applauds  three  types;  something  recognized  as 
familiar,  the  "  happy  hit,"  especially  of  title,  and, 
(not  knowing  why)  all  pictures,  without  regard 
to  subject,  which  express  unity.  The  first  two 
classes  are  not  a  part  of  this  argument,  but 
of  the  last,  the  natural,  spontaneous  attraction 
of  the  healthy  mind  by  what  is  complete  through 
unity  contains  such  reason  as  cannot  be  ignored. 
Subjects  of  equal  or  greater  interest  which  an- 
tagonize unity  fall  flat  before  this  jury. 

There  is  no  opportunity  more  valuable  to  the 
amateur  photographer  than  the  lantern  slide  ex- 
hibition, and  the  fact  that  even  now  no  more 
than  ten  or  twelve  per  cent,  of  what  is  shown  is 
pictorially  good  should  provoke  a  search  for  the 
remedy. 

For  the  student,  to  fill  the  eye  full  of  good 
compositions  and  to  know  why  good,  is  of  equal 
value  with  the  study  of  faulty  composition  to 
discover  why  bad. 

The  challenge  of  compositions  neither  good 
nor  bad  to  discover  wherein  they  could  be 
improved  is  better  practice  than  either. 

This  is  the  constant  exercise  of  every  artist, 
the  ejection  of  the  sand  grains  from  his  easy  run- 
ning machinery. 

Before  photography  became  a  fashion  it  was 

the  writer's  privilege  to  meet  a  country  physician 

who  had  cultivated  for  himself  a  critical  picture 

sense.     The  lines   of  his  circuit  lay  among  the 

[231] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

pleasantest  of  pastoral  scenes.  Stimulated  by 
their  beauty  it  became  his  habit,  as  he  travelled, 
to  mark  off  the  pictures  of  his  route,  to  note 
where  two  ran  together,  to  decide  what  details 
were  unnecessary,  or  where,  by  leaving  the  high- 
way and  approaching  or  retiring  he  discovered 
new  ones.  After  a  time  he  bought  a  Claude 
Lorraine  glass.  It  was  shortly  after  this  pur- 
chase that  I  met  him.  His  enthusiasm  was  de- 
lightful. With  this  framing  of  his  views  his 
judgment  grew  sensitive  and  as  he  showed  these 
mirrored  pictures  to  friends  who'  rode  with  him 
he  was  most  particular  at  just  what  point  he 
stopped  his  horse.  The  man  for  whom  picture 
galleries  were  a  rarity,  talked  as  intelligently 
upon  the  fundamental  structure  of  pictures  as 
most  artists. 

"  I  buy  the  pictures  of  Mauve,"  remarked  a 
clergyman  in  Paris,  "  because  he  puts  into  them 
what  I  try  to  get  into  my  sermons ;  simplicity, 
suggestiveness  and  logical  sequence." 


[232] 


CHAPTER  XVI 

COLOR,   HARMONY,   TONE 

IN  viewing  a  picture  exhibition  the  average 
man,  woman  and  child  would  be  attracted  by 
different  aspects  of  it ;  the  man  by  the  tone 
of  the  pictures,  the  woman  by  their  color, 
the  child  almost  wholly  by  the  form  or  subject. 
The  distinction  is  of  course  epigrammatic,  but 
there  is  a  basis  for  it  in  the  daily  associations  of 
each  of  the  three,  the  man  with  the  conventional 
appointments  of  his  dress  and  his  business  equip- 
ment, the  woman  with  her  gowns,  her  house 
decorations  and  flowers,  the  child  with  the 
world  of  imagination  and  fancy  in  which  he 
dwells. 

The  distinction  has  much  to  do  with  the 
method  and  the  degree  of  one's  aesthetic  devel- 
opment. That  a  picture  must  have  a  subject 
is  the  first  pons  asinorum  to  be  crossed,  the  child 
usually  preferring  to  remain  on  the  farther  side. 
The  delight  in  color  belongs  to  the  lighter,  freer 
or  more  barbaric  part  of  the  race.  Tone  best 
fits  the  sobriety  of  man. 

The  distinction  is  the  difference  in  preference 
for  an  oak  leaf  as  it  turns  to  bronze,  and  a  maple 
as  it  exchanges  its  greens  for  yellow  and  scarlet. 

In  the  latter  case  two  primaries  are  evolved 
from  a  secondary  color  and  in  the  other  a 
[233] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

tertiary  from  a  secondary.  In  the  case  of  the 
oak  bronze  there  is  more  harmony,  for  the  three 
primaries  are  present. 

In  the  case  of  the  yellow  and  red.  there  is  con- 
trast and  effect,  but  less  harmony,  since  but  two 
primaries  appear. 

As  the  walls  are  studied  that  sort  of  color  art 
is  found  to  be  most  conspicuously  prominent 
which  is  in  the  minority  and  probably  one's 
unsophisticated  choice,  from  the  point  of  view  of 
color,  would  be  that  which  has  the  distinction  of 
rarity,  as  the  red  haired  woman  is  at  a  premium 
in  the  South  Sea  isles.  If,  however,  the  tonal 
and  the  coloresque  art  were  in  even  interchange, 
the  former  would  have  much  of  its  strength 
robbed,  to  the  degree  of  the  excessive  color  of 
its  neighbors.  If,  however,  the  pictures  of  tone 
and  of  color,  instead  of  being  hung  together  were 
placed  apart,  it  would  be  found  that  the  latter 
expressed  the  greater  unity  and  presented  a 
front  of  composure  and  dignity  and  that  the 
varied  color  combinations  would  as  likely  quar- 
rel among  themselves  as  with  their  former  neigh- 
bors. 

That  a  just  distinction  may  be  had  between 
tonal  and  coloresque  or  impressionist  art,  the 
purpose  of  each  must  be  stated.  The  "  tonist " 
aims  primarily  at  unified  color,  to  secure  which 
he  elects  a  tone  to  be  followed,  which  shall 
dominate  and  modify  every  color  of  his  subject. 
This  is  accomplished  by  either  painting  into 
a  thin  glaze  of  color,  administered  to  the  whole 
canvas  so  that  every  brushful  partakes  of  some 
[234] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

of  it ;  or  by  modifying  the  painting  subsequently 
by  transparent  glaze  of  the  same  tone. 

The  colorist  and  impressionist,  on  the  con- 
trary, produce  harmony  by  juxtapositions  of 
pure  color.  Harmony  results  when  the  three 
primary  colors  are  present  either  as  red,  yellow 
and  blue  or  as  a  combination  of  a  secondary  and 
primary:  green  with  red,  orange  with  blue  or 
purple  with  yellow. 

The  impressionist  goes  farther,  knowing  that 
the  complementary  of  a  color  will  tend  to 
neutralize  it,  supplying  as  it  does  the  lacking 
element  to  unity,  he  creates  a  vivid  scheme 
of  color  on  this  basis.  In  representing  therefore 
a  gray  rock  he  knows  that  if  red  be  introduced,  a 
little  blue  and  yellow  will  kill  it,  and  the  three 
colors  together  at  a  distance  will  produce  gray. 
Instead,  therefore,  of  mixing  upon  his  palette 
three  primaries  to  produce  the  tertiary  gray,  he 
so  places  them  on  the  canvas  that  at  the  proper 
distance  (though  this  consideration  is  of  small 
concern  to  him)  the  spectator  will  mix  them — 
which  he  often  does.  The  advantage  of  this 
method  of  color  presentation  lies  in  the  degree  of 
purity  which  the  pigment  retains.  Its  disad- 
vantage appears  in  its  frequent  distortion  of  fact 
and  aspect  of  nature,  sacrificed  to  a  scientific 
method  of  representation.  An  estimate  of  im- 
pressionism is  wholly  contained  in  the  reply 
to  the  question,  "  Do  you  like  impressions  ?  Yes, 
when  they  are  good ; "  and  in  the  right  hands 
they  are. 

They  are  good  only  when  the  real  intention  of 
[235] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

impressionism  has  been  expressed,  when  the  syn- 
thesis of  color  has  actually  produced  light  and 
air,  and  an  impression  of  nature  is  quickened. 
But  the  voice  from  the  canvas  more  frequently 
cries  "  nature  be  hanged — but  this  is  impression- 
ism." 

The  little  people  of  impressionism  finding  it 
possible  to  represent  more  light  than  even 
nature  shows  in  very  many  of  her  aspects, 
delight  in  exhibiting  the  disparity  existing  be- 
tween nature  and,  forsooth,  impressionism.  Thus 
we  see  attempts  to  "  knock  out "  with  these 
scientific  brass  knuckles  all  those  who  refuse  to 
fight  with  them.  The  rumpus  grows  out  of  the 
different  attitudes  in  which  nature  is  approached. 

The  one,  drawn  by  her  beauty,  kneels  to  her, 
touching  her  resplendent  garments;  the  other 
grasps  her  with  the  mailed  hand,  bedecking  her 
with  a  mantle  of  his  own.  The  knights  wooing 
the  same  mistress  are  therefore  sworn  rivals. 

For  effect,  no  one  can  deny  that  produced  by 
the  savage  in  war  paint  and  feathers  is  more 
startling  than  the  man  wearing  the  conventional 
garb  of  civilization,  or  that  the  stars  and  stripes 
have  greater  attraction  than  the  modified  tones 
of  a  gobelin  tapestry  or  a  Persian  rug.  We  put 
the  flag  outside  the  building  but  the  daily  course 
of  our  lives  is  more  easily  spent  with  the  tapestry 
and  rug. 

An  "  impression  " 1  among  tonal  pictures  ap- 

1The  term  Impressionism  applies  entirely  to  a  scheme  of 
juxtaposed  colors  and  not  to  the  impression  of  a  scene  in  place  of 
its  actual  rendition,  as  may  be  produced  by  the  artist  in  mono- 
chrome. 

[236] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

pears  as  foolish  as  a  tonal  picture  among  impres- 
sions and  the  sane  conclusion  is  that  the  at- 
tempt to  combine  them  should  not  be  made. 

It  was  entirely  under  the  influence  of  this  fact 
that  a  picture  by  the  late  Theodore  Robinson 
was  refused  by  the  Metropolitan  Museum,  its 
alien  and  exotic  color  having  no  place  in  a  gal- 
lery for  which  it  was  presented.  The  liberal 
policy  of  reserving  it  until  a  time  when,  with 
other  impressions  it  could  create  its  own  environ- 
ment, was  probably  avoided  through  the  honest 
opinion  of  the  directors  that  such  a  time  would 
never  come. 

For  charm  in  color  no  one  will  deny  that  in 
the  works  of  old  masters  this  is  found  in  greater 
degree  than  in  painting  of  more  recent  produc- 
tion, and  the  reason  is,  not  because  the  pigments 
of  the  fourteenth  century  are  better  than  ours, 
but  it  is  to  be  found  in  the  alterative  and  refin- 
ing influences  of  time  and  varnish,  which  have 
crowned  them  with  the  glorious  aureole  of  the 
centuries. 

Guided  by  this  fact  the  modern  school  of  ton- 
ists  seeks  to  shorten  the  period  between  the  date 
of  production  and  this  final  desirable  quality,  by 
setting  in  motion  these  factors  at  once.  They 
therefore  paint  with  varnish  as  a  medium,  multi- 
plying the  processes  of  glazing  with  pure  color 
so  that  under  a  number  of  surfaces  of  varnish 
the  same  chemical  action  may  be  precipitated 
which  in  the  earlier  art  came  about  with  but  few 
exceptions  as  a  happening  through  the  simple 
necessary  acts  of  preservation.  The  consequence 
[  237] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

of  this  adoption  of  kindred  processes  is  that  the 
tonal  pictures  and  the  old  masters  join  hands 
naturally  and  can  stand  side  by  side  in  the  gal- 
lery of  the  collector. 

This,  though  a  wholly  practical  reason  for  the 
growing  popularity  of  tonal  art  is  one  of  the 
powerful  considerations  for  the  trend  from  that 
sort  which  is  liable  to  create  discord.  The 
simplest  illustration  of  harmony,  and  unity  and 
tone  may  be  had  in  nature  herself,  for  though 
these  qualities  have  their  scientific  exposition, 
the  divisions  of  the  color  scale  are  not  so  easily 
comprehended  by  many  people  as  the  chart 
which  may  be  conceived  in  extended  landscape. 
The  sky,  inasmuch  as  it  spreads  itself  over  the 
earth  and  reflects  its  light  upon  it,  dictates  the 
tone  of  the  scene.  The  surface  of  the  lake  re- 
veals this  fact  beyond  dispute,  for  the  water  takes 
on  any  tone  which  the  sky  may  have.  The 
sky's  power  of  reflection  is  no  less  potent  in  the 
landscape. 

Reflection  is  observable  in  that  degree  in 
which  the  surface,  reflected  upon,  is  rough  or 
smooth.  The  absorbent  surface  allows  the  light 
to  fall  in  and  disappear  and  under  this  condition 
we  see  the  true  or  local  color.  Note,  for  ex- 
ample, the  effect  of  light  on  velvet  or  the  hide  of 
a  cow  in  winter.  When  the  hair  points  toward 
the  light  the  mass  is  rich  and  dark,  but  when  it 
turns  away  in  any  direction  its  polished  surface 
reflects  light,  which  like  the  lake  becomes  a  mir- 
ror to  it. 

Light  falling  upon  a  meadow  will  influence  it 
[238] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

by  its  own  color  only  in  those  places  where  the 
grass  is  turned  at  an  angle  from  its  rays. 

From  these  few  observations  it  becomes  obvi- 
ous that  unity  of  tone  is  a  simple  matter  when 
understood  by  the  painter  and  that  unity,  being 
a  most  important  part  of  his  color  scheme,  may 
be  increased  by  additions  of  objects  bearing  the 
desirable  color  which  nature  fails  to  supply  in 
any  particular  subject.  Thus  if  the  day  be  one 
in  which  a  warm  mellow  haze  pervades  the  air, 
those  tones  of  the  sky  repeated  upon  the  backs 
of  cattle,  a  roadway,  clothing,  or  what  not,  may 
effect  a  more  positive  tonality  than  the  lesser 
items  would  give  which  also  reflect  it.  Herein 
then  is  the  principle  of  Tonality  :  That  all  parts 
of  the  picture  should  be  bound  together  by  the 
dominating  color  or  colors  of  the  picture. 

With  the  indoor  subject  the  consideration  is 
equally  strong.  Let  the  scheme  be  one  as  color- 
esque  as  the  Venetian  school  took  delight  in,  vivid 
primaries  in  close  juxtaposition  (see  small  repro- 
duction in  Fundamental  forms — The  Cross,  page 
170).  The  central  figure,  that  of  St.  Peter  is 
clothed  in  dark  blue  with  a  yellow  mantle.  The 
Yirgin's  dress  is  deep  red,  her  mantle  a  blue, 
lighter  than  that  of  Peter's  robe.  Through 
the  pillars  is  seen  the  blue  sky  of  still  lighter 
degree.  Thus  the  sky  enters  the  picture  by 
graded  approaches  and  focalizes  upon  the  central 
figure.  In  like  manner  do  the  light  yellow 
clouds  repeat  their  color  in  the  side  of  the 
building,  in  the  yellow  spot  in  the  flag  and 
the  mantle  of  the  central  figure.  The  red  of 
[239] 


the  Virgin's  robe  and  the  yellow  mantle  to- 
gether form  a  combination  of  a  yellow  red 
in  the  flag,  the  blue  and  red  of  the  central 
figures  become  purple  and  garnet  in  the  surplices 
of  the  kneeling  churchmen  and  doges.  The  rep- 
etition of  a  given  color  in  different  parts  of  the 
figure  is  pushed  still  further  in  the  blue  gray  hair 
of  the  kneeling  figures,  the  red  brown  tunics  of 
the  monks  and  the  yellow  bands  upon  the  dra- 
peries. 

In  the  picture  by  Henry  Hanger  (page  120) 
(the  crossing  of  horizontals  effected  without  a 
line),  a  canvas  in  which  the  color  is  particularly 
reserved  and  gray,  the  tone  is  created  by  pre- 
cisely the  same  means.  The  cool  gray  and  warm 
white  clouds  are  reflected  into  the  water  and 
concentrated  with  greater  force  in  the  pool  in 
the  foreground,  the  greens  and  drabs  of  the 
bushes  being  strikingly  modified  by  both  of  the 
tones  noted  in  the  sky.  In  landscape  a  cumula- 
tive force  may  be  given  the  progress  of  the  sky 
tones  by  the  use  of  figures,  the  blue  or  gray  of 
the  sky  being  brought  down  in  stronger  degree 
upon  the  clothing  of  the  peasant,  his  cart  or  farm 
utensils.  Just  here  inharmony  easily  insinuates 
itself  through  the  introduction  of  elements  hav- 
ing no  antiphonal  connection. 

Fancy  a  single  spot  of  red  without  its  echo. 
Our  sense  of  tonal  harmony  is  unconsciously 
active  when  between  two  figures  observed  too 
far  away  for  sight  of  their  faces  we  quickly  make 
our  conclusions  concerning  their  social  station, 
if  one  be  arrayed  in  a  hat  trimmed  with  purple 
[240] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

and  green,  a  garnet  waist  and  a  buff  skirt,  while 
the  other,  though  dressed  in  strong  colors  ex- 
presses the  principles  of  coloration  herewith  de- 
fined. The  purple  and  green  hat  may  belong  to 
her  suit  if  their  colors  be  repeated  by  modifica- 
tion, in  it ;  or  the  garnet  and  buff  become  the 
foundation  for  unity  if  developed  throughout  the 
rest  of  the  costume. 

The  purchaser  of  a  picture  may  be  sure  of  the 
tone  of  his  new  acquisition  if  he  will  hang  it  for 
a  day  or  two  upside  down,  This  is  one  of  the 
simplest  tests  applied  by  artists,  and  many  things 
are  revealed  thereby.  Form  is  lost  and  the  only 
other  thing  remains — color. 

Harmony  being  dependent  only  on  the  interre- 
lations of  colors,  their  degree  or  intensity  are  im- 
material. 

On  this  basis  it  is  a  matter  of  choice  whether 
our  preference  be  for  the  coloresque  or  the  more 
sober  art. 

It  must  however  be  borne  in  mind  that  the 
danger  lies  in  the  direction  of  color.  Inharmony 
is  more  frequently  found  here  than  in  the  picture 
of  sober  tone. 

Precisely  the  same  palette  is  used  to  produce 
an  autumnal  scene  on  a  blue  day,  when  the  colors 
are  vivid  and  the  outline  on  objects  is  hard  and 
the  form  pronounced,  as  on  an  overcast  day  with 
leaden  clouds  and  much  of  the  life  and  color 
gone  from  the  yellow  and  scarlet  foliage. 

The  reason  why  chances  for  harmony  in  the 
first  are  less  than  in  the  second  is  that  the  syn- 
thetic union  of  the  colors  is  not  as  obvious  or 
[241  ] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

as  simple  as  in  the  latter,  in  which  to  produce  the 
gray  sky,  red  and  yellow  have  been  added  to  the 
blue,  and  the  sky  tones  are  more  apparently 
added  to  the  bright  hues  by  being  mixed  into 
dull  colors  upon  the  palette.  The  circle  of  har- 
mony is  therefore  more  easily  apparent  to  our 
observation. 

It  is  for  this  reason  that  tonality  is  more  easily 
understood  when  applied  to  the  green  and  cop- 
per bronze  of  the  oak  tree  against  a  cool  gray 
sky  than  the  red  and  yellow  hillside  and  the  blue 
sky. 

VALUES. 

Another  important  consideration  in  an  estimate 
of  a  picture  is  its  truth  of  values.  The  color  may 
be  correct  and  harmonious  but  the  degree  of  its 
light  and  shade  be  faulty.  This  is  a  consider- 
ation more  important  to  the  student  than  the 
connoisseur  as  but  few  pictures  see  the  light  of  an 
exhibition  which  carry  this  fault.  It  is  the  one 
most  dwelt  upon  in  the  academies  after  the  form 
in  outline  has  been  mastered.  On  it  depends  the 
correctness  of  surface  presentation.  If,  for  in- 
stance, the  values  of  a  face  are  false,  the  character 
will  be  disturbed.  This  point  has  been  made 
evident  to  all  in  the  retouching,  which  many 
photographs  receive.  Likeness  is  so  dependent 
on  those  surfaces  connecting  the  features  or  upon 
the  light  and  shade  of  the  features,  that  any 
tampering  with  them  in  a  sensitive  part  is  ruin- 
ous. 

Values  represent  the  degree  of  light  and  shade 
[242] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

which  the  picture  demands,  the  relations  of  one 
part  to  another  on  the  scale  assumed.  Thus  with 
the  same  light  affecting  various  objects  in  a  room, 
if  one  be  represented  as  though  illumined  by  a  dif- 
ferent degree  of  light  it  is  out  of  value ;  or,  in  a 
landscape,  if  an  object  in  the  distance  is  too  strong 
in  either  color  or  degree  of  light  and  shade  for  its 
particular  place  in  perspective,  it  is  out  of  value. 
There  are  therefore  values  of  color  and  of  chiar- 
oscuro, which  may  be  illustrated  in  a  piece  of 
drapery.  A  light  pink  silk  will  be  out  of  value 
in  its  shadow  if  these  are  too  dark  for  the  degree 
of  light  represented,  and  out  of  color  value,  if,  in- 
stead of  a  salmon  tone  in  the  crease  which  a  re- 
flection from  the  opposing  surface  of  the  fold 
creates,  there  be  a  purplish  hue  which  properly 
belongs  to  the  outer  edge  of  the  fold  in  shadow, 
where,  from  the  sky  or  a  cool  reflecting  surface 
near  by,  it  obtains  this  change  of  color  by  reflec- 
tion. 

The  most  objectionable  form  of  false  values  is 
the  isolated  sort,  whereby  the  over  accentuation 
of  a  part  is  made  to  impress  itself  unduly ;  "  to 
jump  "  in  the  technical  phraseology  of  the  school. 

The  least  objectionable  and  often  permitted 
form  is  that  where  a  large  section  is  put  out  of 
its  value  with  the  intent  of  accenting  the  light 
of  a  contiguous  part. 

In  landscape  the  whole  foreground  is  fre- 
quently lowered  in  tone  beyond  the  possibility 
of  any  cloud  shadow,  for  the  sake  of  the  light 
beyond,  which  may  be  the  color  motif  of  the  pic- 
ture and  which  thereby  is  glorified. 
[243] 


CHAPTER  XVII 

ENVELOPMENT  AND   COLOR   PEE8PECTIVE 

ALLIED  to  values  is  the  idea  of  envelopment : 
of  a  kindred  notion  to  this  is  aerial  perspective. 
On  these  two  depends  the  proper  presentation  of 
a  figure  in  air. 

If  at  any  place  on  the  contour  of  a  figure  the 
background  seems  to  stick,  the  detachment  from 
its  surroundings,  which  every  figure  should  have, 
is  wanting. 

The  reason  for  it  is  to  be  found  in  a  false  value 
which  has  deprived  it  of  rotundity  of  envelop- 
ment. 

The  solid  object  which  resists  the  attempt  to 
put  one's  hand  around  it  or  to  stretch  beyond  into 
the  background,  lacks  this  quality.  A  fine  dis- 
tinction must  be  here  drawn  between  simple  en- 
velopment and  relief,  which  is  a  more  positive 
and  less  important  quality. 

However  flatly  and  in  mass  figures  may  be 
conceived,  the  impression  of  aerial  envelopment 
must  be  unmistakable.  Here  a  nice  adjustment 
of  values  or  relative  tones  will  accomplish  it. 

Naturally,  the  greater  space  between  the  spec- 
tator and  an  object,  the  more  air  will  be  present. 
To  the  painter  the  color  of  air  is  the  color  of  the 
sky.  This  then  will  be  mixed  with  the  local 
color  of  the  object,  giving  it  atmosphere. 
[  244] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

Envelopment  is  unmistakably  represented  by 
the  out  of  door  Dutch  painters,  for  in  the  low 
countries  atmosphere  is  seen  in  its  density,  and  at 
very  short  range.  Holland  is  therefore  an  ideal 
sketching  ground  for  the  painter  and  the  best  in 
the  world  for  the  student,  since  the  ideas  of 
values  and  envelopment  are  ever  present.  In 
this  saturated  air  the  minute  particles  of  mois- 
ture which,  in  the  case  of  rain  or  fog  can  affect 
the  obliteration  of  objects,  partially  accomplishes 
it  at  all  times,  with  the  result  that  objects  seem 
to  swim  in  atmosphere. 

In  such  a  landscape  perspective  of  value  and 
color  is  easily  observed,  making  positive  the 
separation  of  objects.  The  painter,  under  these 
conditions,  is  independent  of  linear  perspective  to 
give  depth  to  his  work,  which  being  one  of  the 
cheap  devices  of  painting  he  avoids  as  much  as 
possible. 

It  is  because  aerial  perspective  is  paintable  and 
the  other  sort  is  not  that  artists  shun  the  clear 
altitudes  of  Colorado  where  all  the  year  one  can 
see  for  eighty  miles  and,  on  the  Atlantic  border, 
wait  the  summer  through  for  the  fuller  atmos- 
phere which  the  fall  will  bring,  that  by  its  tender 
envelopment  the  vividness  and  detail  which  is 
characteristic  of  the  American  landscape  may 
give  place  to  what  is  serviceable  to  the  purposes 
of  painting. 

It  is  because  of  misunderstanding  on  this  point 

that  we  of  the  Western  Hemisphere  may  wrongly 

challenge  foreign  landscape,  judging  it  upon  the 

natural   aspect  of   our  own  country.     The  un- 

[245] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

travelled  American  or  he  who  has  been  there 
without  seeing  things,  is  not  aware  that  distinctly 
different  conditions  prevail  in  Europe  than  with 
us,  especially  above  latitude  40°. 

Advantage  in  the  paintability  of  subject  there- 
fore lies  distinctly  with  the  European  artist, 
and  it  may  be  because  he  has  to  labor  against 
these  odds  that  the  American  landscapist  has 
forged  to  the  front  and  is  now  leading  his  Euro- 
pean brethren.  It  must,  however,  be  acknowl- 
edged that  he  acquired  what  he  knows  concern- 
ing landscape  from  the  art  and  nature  of  Europe 
— from  Impressionism  with  its  important  legacy 
of  color,  which  has  been  acknowledged  in  vary- 
ing degree  by  all  our  painters,  and  from  the 
"  school  of  1830,"  on  which  is  based  the  tonal 
movement  of  the  present. 

Other  than  perspective  of  values,  no  impor- 
tance should  be  attached  to  that  which,  with  the 
inartistic  mind,  is  regarded  so  important  a  qual- 
ity. The  art  instruction  which  the  common 
school  of  the  past  generation  offered  was  based 
on  perspective,  its  problems,  susceptible  of  never 
ending  circumventions,  being  spread  in  an  inter- 
minable maze  before  the  student.  Great  respect 
for  this  "  lion  in  the  path  "  was  a  natural  result 
and  "at  least  a  two  years'  study  "  of  these  prob- 
lems was  thought  necessary  before  practical 
work  in  art  could  commence. 

Mr.  Ruskin's  fling  at  the  perspective  labyrinth 

would    have    been  more   authoritative  than  it 

proved,  had  he  not  too  often  lessened  our  faith 

by  the  cry  of  wolf  when  it  proved  a  false  alarm. 

[246] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

There  is  a  single  truth  which,  though  simple, 
was  never  known  to  Oriental  art,  namely ; 
that  in  every  picture  there  must  be  a  real  or  un- 
derstood horizon — the  level  of  the  painter's 
eye, — that  all  lines  above  this  will  descend  and 
all  lines  below  will  rise  to  it  as  they  recede. 

But  upon  aerial  perspective  depends  the  ques- 
tion of  detail  in,  the  receding  object  and  this  to 
the  painter  is  of  first  importance.  To  temper  a 
local  color  so  that  it  shall  settle  itself  to  a  nicety 
at  any  distance,  in  the  perspective  scheme,  and  to 
express  the  exact  degree  of  shadow  which  a 
given  color  shall  have  under  a  given  light  and  at 
a  given  distance  are  problems  which  absorb  four- 
fifths  of  the  painter's  attention. 

If  the  features  of  a  man  a  hundred  yards  away 
be  painted  with  the  same  fidelity  as  though  he 
stood  but  ten  yards  distant  the  aerial  balance  is 
disturbed,  the  man  being  brought  nearer  than 
his  place  on  the  perspective  plan  allows. 

At  a  mile's  range  a  tree  to  the  painter  is  not 
an  object  expressing  a  combination  of  leaves  and 
branches,  but  a  solid  colored  mass  having  its 
light  and  shade  and  perhaps  perforated  by  the 
sky.  It  is  with  natural  aspect  and  not  natural 
fact  that  the  painter  deals. 

Pre-Kaphaelite  art  practised  this  phase  of  hon- 
esty, which,  in  our  own  day  was  revived  in 
England.  In  this  later  coterie  of  pre-Raphaelite 
brethren  was  but  one  painter,  the  others,  men  of 
varying  artistic  perceptions  and  impulses.  To 
the  painter  it  in  time  became  evident  that  he  was 
out  of  place  in  this  company  and  the  commen- 
[  347  3  " 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

tary  of  his  withdrawal  proved  more  forcible  than 
any  to  be  made  by  an  outsider. 

When,  therefore,  judgment  be  applied  to  a 
work  of  painting  it  must  be  with  a  knowledge  of 
natural  aspect  in  mind,  not  necessarily  related, 
even  vaguely,  to  the  scene  under  consideration, 
but  such  as  has  come  by  the  absorption  of  nature's 
moods,  whereby,  with  the  cause  given,  the  effect 
may  be  known  as  a  familiar  sequence.  The  pub- 
lic too  should  be  sufficiently  knowing  to  catch 
the  code  signals  of  each  artist  whereby  these 
natural  facts  are  symbolled. 

Herein  has  now  been  set  forth,  as  concisely  as 
possible,  the  few  considerations  which  are  ever 
present  to  the  painter.  The  connoisseur  who 
would  judge  of  his  work,  either  subjectively  or 
technically,  must  follow  in  his  footprints  and  be 
careful  to  follow  closely.  He  must  appreciate 
the  differences  in  the  creeds  of  workers  in  color 
and  not  apply  the  formulas  of  impressionism  to 
works  in  tone.  He  must  not  emphasize  the  im- 
portance of  drawing  in  the  work  which  clearly 
speaks  of  color  and  by  its  technique  ignores  all 
else;  nor  expect  the  miracle  of  luscious,  trans- 
lucent color  in  a  work  demanding  the  minute 
drawing  of  detail.  He  can,  however,  be  sure  that 
the  criteria  of  judgment  which  under  all  circum- 
stances will  apply  are : 

Balanced  and  unified  composition,  both  of  line 
and  mass. 

Harmony  of  color,  expressed  by  the  correla- 
tion of  all  colors  throughout  the  picture. 
[248] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

Tone,  or  the  unification  of  all  colors  upon  the 
basis  of  a  given  hue. 

Values,  or  the  relation  of  the  shades  of  an 
object  to  each  other  and  the  degree  of  relation 
between  one  object  and  another. 

Envelopment,  or  the  sense  of  air  with  which 
objects  are  surrounded. 

With  these  five  ideas  in  mind  the  critic  of 
Philistia  may  enter  the  gallery,  constituting  him- 
self a  jury  of  one,  assured  he  is  armed  with  every 
consideration  which  influenced  the  artist  in  his 
work  and  the  art  committee  in  its  acceptance 
thereof. 


[  249] 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

THE   BIAS    OF   JUDGMENT 

IF  discernment  was  ours  to  trace  through  the 
maze  of  fashion  and  experimental  originality  the 
living  principle  of  true  art,  the  caprice  of  taste 
would  have  little  to  do  with  the  comfort  of  our 
convictions  or  the  worth  of  our  investments. 

Fallacy  has  its  short  triumphs  and  the  per- 
suasive critic  or  the  creator  of  art  values  may 
effect  real  value  but  for  a  day.  The  limit  of  the 
credulity  of  the  public,  which  Lincoln  has  immor- 
talized, is  the  basis  of  hope. 

The  public  in  time  rights  itself. 

Errors  in  discerning  this  living  principle  in  art 
is  cause  for  the  deepest  contrition  at  the  confes- 
sional of  modern  life.  Unsigned  and  unrecog- 
nized works  by  modern  masters  have  been  re- 
jected by  juries  to  which  in  haste  the  doors  of  the 
Salon  or  Society  have  been  reopened  with  apologies. 
The  nation  which  assumes  the  highest  degree  of 
aesthetic  perception  turned  its  back  on  Millet  and 
Corot  and  Courbet  and  Manet  and  Puvis  de 
Chevannes,  rejecting  their  best,  and  has  honored 
yesterday  what  it  spurns  to-day.  The  feverish 
delirium  of  the  upper  culture  demands  "  some 
new  thing,"  and  Athens,  Paris  and  New  York 
concede  it. 

But  what  has  lived  ?  What  successive  gener- 
ations have  believed  in  may  be  believed  by  us  ;  a 
[250] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

thought  expressed  by  the  author  of  "  Modern 
Painters  "  in  one  magnificent  sentence,  contain- 
ing 153  words  and  too  long  for  quotation.  The 
argument  is  based  on  the  common  sense  of  man- 
kind. It  has  however  this  objection.  Judgment 
by  such  agreement  is  bound  to  be  cumulative. 
What  is  good  in  the  beginning  is  better  to-day, 
still  better  to-morrow,  then  great,  then  wonder, 
ful,  then  divine. 

This  is  the  Eaphaelesque  progression,  and  if 
fifty  persons  were  asked  who  was  the  greatest 
painter,  forty-nine  would  say  Kaphael,  without 
discrimination.  The  fiftieth  might  have  observed 
what  all  painters  know,  that  Kaphael  was  not  a 
great  painter,  either  as  colorist  or  technician. 
The  estimate  of  his  contemporary,  Velasquez, 
that  of  all  the  painters  he  met  at  Kome,  Kaphael 
pleased  him  least,  is  a  judgment  of  a  colorist  and 
a  technician,  the  more  valuable  because  rendered 
before  the  ministrations  of  oil  and  granular 
secretion  had  enveloped  his  work  in  the  mystery 
from  which  it  speaks  to  us.  As  a  painter  and 
draughtsman  Raphael  is  indeed  outclassed  by 
Bouguereau,  Cabanel  or  Lefevre  of  our  own  time, 
and  as  a  composer  of  either  decorative  or  pictor- 
ial design  he  has  had  superiors.  But  the  work  of 
Kaphael  possesses  the  loving  unction  of  real  con- 
viction and  nothing  to  which  he  put  his  well 
trained  hand  failed  of  the  baptism  of  genius. 
Through  this  mark,  therefore,  it  will  live  forever. 
Nor  should  any  work  require  more  than  this  for 
continuous  life.  Each  age  should  be  distinctive. 

The  bias  of  judgment  through  the  cumulative 
[251] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

regard  of  successive  centuries  is  what  has  created 
the  popular  disparity  between  the  old  and  modern 
masters,  and  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the 
harmony  of  color  and  its  glowing  quality  is 
largely  the  gift  of  these  centuries,  a  fact  made 
cruelly  plain  to  those  who  have  restored  pictures 
and  tampered  with  their  secrets. 

It  will  be  a  surprise  to  the  average  man  in  that 
realm  of  perfect  truth  which  lies  beyond,  to 
mark,  in  the  association  of  artists  of  all  ages, 
when  the  divisions  of  schools,  periods  and  petty 
formulas  are  forgotten,  that  Kaphael  will  grasp 
the  hand  of  Abbott  Thayer,  saying  to  him  in  the 
never  dying  fervor  of  art  enthusiasm  and  with 
the  acknowledgment  of  limitations,  which  is  one 
of  the  signs  of  greatness  ; 

"  O,  that  I  had  had  thy  glorious  quality  of 
technical  subtlety  in  place  of  the  mechanical 
directness  in  which  I  labored ! "  and  he  in  turn  to 
be  reminded  that  had  he  paused  for  this,  the  span 
of  his  short  life  were  measured  long  before  he 
had  accomplished  half  his  work. 

A  kindred  bias  is  the  eventual  acceptance  of 
whatever  is  persisted  in.  Almost  any  form  in 
which  a  technically  good  artist  may  express  his 
idea  will  in  time  find  acceptance.  It  has  the 
persuasion  of  the  advertisement,  offering  what 
we  do  not  want.  In  time  we  imagine  we  do. 
Duplications  of  Cuyp's  very  puerile  arrangement 
of  parts,  as  in  the  "  Departure  for  the  Chase " 
to  be  found  in  others  of  his  pictures,  work  in  our 
minds  mitigation  for  those  faults.  The  belief  in 
self  has  the  singular  magnetic  potency  of  draw- 
[252] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

ing  and  turning  us.  A  stronger  magnet  must 
then  be  the  living  principle.  We  find  it  in 
unity.  Originality  compromises  this  at  its  peril. 

And  that  discrimination  against  the  prophet 
in  his  own  country !  Under  its  ban  the  native 
artist  left  his  home  and  dwelt  abroad ;  but  the 
expatriation  which  produced  pictures  of  Dutch 
and  French  peasants  by  American  painters  was 
in  time  condemned.  The  good  of  the  foreign 
experience  lay  in  the  medals  which  were  brought 
back  out  of  banishment.  These  turned  the  tide 
of  thoughtless  prejudice,  and  international  com- 
petitions have  kept  it  rising. 

But  the  worth  of  the  foreign  signature  is  now 
of  the  lesser  reckonings ;  for  with  the  same  spirit 
in  which  the  American  artist  would  annihilate 
the  tariff  on  foreign  art,  have  the  best  painters 
of  Europe  declared  "  there  shall  be  no  nationality 
in  art."  It  is  the  dealer  in  foreign  art  who 
alone  fans  the  flame  of  such  distinction. 

Happy  that  nation  which,  when  necessary,  can 
believe  in  its  own,  not  to  exclusion,  as  does  the 
British,  but  on  the  basis  of  that  simple  canon 
adopted  by  the  world  of  sport ;  "  Let  the  best 
win." 

The  commonest  bias  to  judgment  is  also  the 
most  vulgar — price.  The  reply  of  the  man  of 
wealth  to  the  statement  that  a  recent  purchase 
was  an  inferior  example  of  an  artist's  work ;  "  I 
paid  ten  thousand  for  it.  Of  course  it's  all  right," 
was  considered  final  to  the  critic.  The  man 
whose  first  judgment  concerning  an  elaborate 
picture  of  roses  was  turned  to  surprise  and 
[253] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

wonder  when  told  the  price,  which  in  time  led 
to  respect  and  then  purchase,  may  find  parallels 
in  most  of  the  collections  of  Philistia.  "The 
value  of  a  picture  is  what  some  one  will  pay  for 
it "  is  a  maxim  of  the  creators  of  picture  values 
and  upon  it  the  "  picture  business  "  has  its  work- 
ing basis.  And  so  together  with  the  good  of 
foreign  art  have  the  Meyer  Yon  Bremens  and 
the  Verbeckhovens,  the  creations  of  the  school 
of  smiles  and  millinery,  and  the  failures  and  half 
successes  of  impressionism,  together  with  its  good, 
been  cornered,  and  unloaded  upon  the  American 
collector. 

If  there  be  a  rock  of  reliance  for  continuous 
value  it  is  sincerity  or  individualism,.  On  these, 
as  a  basis,  depend  our  acceptance  of  even  the 
painters  of  the  twilight  of  art  as  well  as  the 
modern  Kosetti,  who  worked  in  their  spirit. 
The  products  of  the  more  skillful  will  pass  before 
these.  Nor  yet  is  the  gauge  of  sincerity  always 
trustworthy.  The  surest  test  to  know  that  work 
will  not  last  in  value  is  to  note  that  it  lacks  the 
inner  promptings  and  hints  of  the  "commis- 
sion." The  picture  painted  for  the  demand  is 
quite  as  sure  to  lack  the  touch  of  love  and  life 
as  that  painted  to  order.  The  collector  should 
follow  and  never  lead  the  artist,  as  he  in  turn, 
should  accept  a  commission  only  under  the  con- 
dition that  he  feels  the  subject. 

But  how  settle  the  question  of  the  changeful 

formulas  of  taste.     Why  the  popularity  of  the 

detailists  of  French-Spanish  School,  the  school  of 

Fortuny,  Madrazzo,  Villigas,  Kico  or  of  the  work 

[254] 


PICTORIAL  COMPOSITION 

of  Meissonier  who  as  a  detailist  ellipsed  them  all ; 
why  should  it  wane  or  give  place  to  the  school  of 
1830  ?  A  simple  analysis  of  their  work  in  toto 
will  prove  that  their  best  pictures  are  those  in 
which  breadth  and  largeness  of  effect  is  strongest. 
Thus  Meissonier's  "Keturn  of  Napoleon  from 
Moscow,"  is  a  better  picture  than  the  "  Eeview 
of  the  Cuirassiers  at  the  battle  of  Friedland  in 
1807,"  and  best  of  all,  according  to  the  painter's 
judgment,  his  "Interrupted  Dispatches."  Thus 
does  the  Spanish  "  Marriage  of  Fortuny "  out- 
class his  "Academicians  Choosing  a  Model," 
which  besides  lacking  the  charm  of  reserve  force, 
has  its  source  in  flippant  imagination.  The  con- 
census of  the  ages  regarding  finish,  dexterity, 
cleverness  and  chic  is  that  in  the  scale  of  art  they 
weigh  less  than  the  simple  breadth  of  effect 
which  they  so  frequently  interrupt.  The  school 
of  Teniers  with  all  its  detail  was  preservative  of 
this. 

It  is  on  the  question  of  detail  and  the  careful 
anxiety  concerning  the  surface,  that  the  art 
instinct  avoids  science,  refusing  her  microscope 
in  preference  for  the  unaided  impression  of 
normal  sight.  The  living  art  of  the  ages  is  that 
in  which  the  painter  is  seen  to  be  greater  than 
his  theme,  in  which  we  acknowledge  the  power 
first  and  afterward  the  product.  It  is  the  unfet- 
tered mode  allowing  the  greatest  individualism 
of  expression ;  it  is,  in  short,  the  man  end  of  it 
which  lives,  for  his  is  the  immortal  life. 


[255] 


PMP 


